Shapovalov's quarterfinal defeat: apologizes for hitting chair umpire

Canada’s Denis Shapovalov had to apologise to the chair umpire after hitting him on an unforced error in the Swiss Indoors Basel. The 25-year-old lost to France’s Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the quarterfinal with a score of 6-7, 6-3, 7-6.

The incident took place during the contest as Shapovalov hit the chair umpire while returning the service. The video was shared on the socia media platform X—previously known as Twitter. Shapovalov ran stragith to the umpire and apologised for the incident.

In the contest, the Tel Aviv-born did not have a great outing. He produced just seven aces in the match, 20 fewer than his opponent. He failed to win a single break point. In total, Shapovalov won 101 points in the match, seven fewer than his opponent.

Shapovalov’s defeat in Basel was his second defeat in the quarterfinal this year. His previous loss was in the last-eight clash in Washington, where he was disqualified for arguing with the fan. Overall, Shapovalov did not have a great year, where he only managed to win 19 matches and suffered 24 defeats. His performances in major events has not been great as well. He was knocked out of the Australian Open after losing in the first round to the Czech Republic’s Mensik Jakub in straight sets with a score of 6-3, 7-5, 7-5.

Few months later in the French Open, Shapovalov lost in the third round to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz with a score of 6-3, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1. At Wimbledon Shapovalov lost in the third round again, this time against America’s Ben Shelton with a score of 6-7, 6-2, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. His most recent appearance in a major event came at the US Open where he lost to Netherlands’ Botic Van De Zandschulp in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.