Tennis star Denis Shapovalov accuses Australian Open fan of ‘having a BEER too many’ as he complains to the umpire about rowdy spectator, before telling the punter to ‘shut up’ in second round win
Denis Shapovalov had an heated exchange with a spectator at the Australian Open and complained to the chair umpire the fan appeared to be intoxicated.
Facing a triple break-point in his second round match against Japan’s Taro Daniel on Wednesday, the Canadian grew frustrated with the heckling on Court No2.
Shapovalov complained to the chair umpire the fan had interrupted a rally and suggested alcohol consumption was the reason behind the rowdiness.
Denis Shapovalov had an heated exchange with a spectator at the Australian Open
‘They don’t need to be doing that,’ Shapovalov told the umpire.
‘They had a beer too much and now they’re fooling around.’
When the umpire appeared to explain there was little she could do about the disruption, Shapovalov replied: ‘I understand but it’s excessive’
Undeterred, the fan appeared to shout something at Shapovalov, prompting the world No22 to tell him to ‘shut up’.
The Canadian told the chair umpire the rowdy spectators had had ‘too many beers’
Despite the incident, the Canadian comfortably marched into the third round without losing a set, as he prevailed 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 over Daniel.
Shapovalov will face the winner of the match between Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz – the world No11 – and Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Elsewhere, three British spectators were evicted from Court No13 during Cameron Norrie’s match against France’s Constant Lestienne for sledging the players.
According to The Times’ tennis correspondent Stuart Fraser, the fans appeared to have consumed alcohol and sang ‘You’re just a s**t Andy Murray’ and ‘Lestienne is going home’.
The disruption did not prevent the Canadian from beating Taro Daniel in straight sets
Three British spectators were evicted from Court No13 on Wednesday night
During the Wimbledon final last year, Nick Kyrgios was involved in an angry spat with a fan, whom she accused of having had ‘700 drinks’ and asked the umpire to evict her.
‘Distracting me when I’m serving in a Wimbledon final?’ he said. ‘There’s no bigger occasion.
‘You didn’t believe me [the first time] and now it’s happened again. It almost cost me the game. Why is she still here?
Nick Kyrgios accused a fan who he said ‘had 700 beers’ of distracting him during the Wimbledon final against Novak Djokovic in July
The woman in question, Ania Palus, subsequently took Kyrgios to court over the claims
‘She’s drunk out of her mind in the first row speaking to me in the middle of a game. How is that acceptable?
‘Kick her out. I know exactly who it is. It’s the one with the dress […] the one who looks like she has had about 700 drinks.’
The woman involved, Polish lawyer Ania Palus, sued Kyrgios over his comments and the Australian was eventually forced to apologise and had to pay $35,000 to charity as settlement.
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