Canada’s
Denis Shapovalov has been left unimpressive with tactics
used by his opponent
Wimbledon’s first-round opponent
Radu Albot.
The 24-year-old’s opener at the third Grand Slam of the year,
which has been played in London, was suspended because of bad weather on Monday.
He lost the first set with a score of 7-5 and was equal in
the second (2-2) when the match came to a halt due to weather conditions.
In the first set, the Moldovan tennis star changed his
returning style when the set was tied at 5-5, in a visible attempt to distract his
opponent.
The world number the 29-seed, while speaking to the media
after the match, expressed his displeasure over an incident that took place in
the first set.
“He's jumping around like this, I mean it's a joke, nobody
does that, it's an absolute joke that you're doing this. I'll start doing the
same and then we can have a party over here. I mean, it's not fair, that's not
tennis. The sole purpose of this is to distract me, that's just hindrance.”
This is only the third time — and the first time on a grass surface
— that both players are meeting at the tennis court. In the previous meetings,
both players won one time each.
The first time when both players faced off was in 2020 in
Sofia where Albot came out on top with a score of 6-2, 6-4.
In the second meeting two years later, Shapovalov returned the
favour in Korea with a win in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-2.