Daily Dose of Social Media: Denis Shapovalov's Rome meltdown: racket smash after shock loss

In a new Daily Dose of Social Media, Denis Shapovalov stole the spotlight with his outburst in the match against Vilius Gaubas, falling defeated in the big surprise of the day, in which the Canadian ended up breaking his racket in fury and gifting the broken racket to a fan in the audience.

On the other hand, ATP and WTA stars teamed up to create an ideal pre-match playlist, which was shared on Spotify, with the participation of Jack Draper, Coco Gauff, Casper Ruud, Mirra Andreeva, and Daniil Medvedev, among others.

In a match that culminated in a surprise in the second round of the Rome Masters, Lithuanian Vilius Gaubas (No. 154 in the ranking) defeated Canadian Denis Shapovalov (No. 27) with a score of 6-3, 6-4. The match, played on Friday night at the Foro Italico, was marked by the Canadian's frustration, who failed to decipher his opponent's solid and effective game.

The tension reached its peak in the second set, with the score at 3-6, 4-5 in favor of Gaubas. Precisely after losing his serve, which practically sealed the Lithuanian's victory, Shapovalov staged a visible outburst of frustration. In a gesture of helplessness, the Canadian vented his anger on his racket, smashing it against the ground, before giving it to a fan in the audience.

This moment of frustration reflected the difficulties Shapovalov faced throughout the match. He committed a total of 44 unforced errors and accumulated nine double faults. Furthermore, he was only able to convert one of the seven break point opportunities presented to him, while his serve was broken three times by a Gaubas who demonstrated remarkable solidity in both defense and attack.

Despite being the clear favorite by ranking, Shapovalov was outplayed by a Gaubas who did not shrink from the difference in the standings. The Lithuanian, coming from qualifying, had already shown his good level by defeating Damir Dzumhur in the first round, and against Shapovalov, he achieved the most important victory of his career so far. With this win, Gaubas advanced to the third round of the Rome Masters 1000, where he will face second seed Alexander Zverev.

Elena Rybakina was practicing this day at the Rome Open, ahead of her third-round match against Bianca Andreescu. The former Wimbledon champion debuted this Friday with a victory against German Eva Lys (7-6, 6-2) and is preparing to return to the court this Sunday against former US Open champion Andreescu. The Kazakh was training in the morning at the Foro Italico, where she was seen practicing serves and hitting with her team. The Kazakh player seeks to regain her best form and return to the top-10 after dropping out a few weeks ago, following more than two years as one of the most consistent players, staying in the top-5 for most of that time.

Jannik Sinner had a great gesture after spending time with young fans on Kids Day at the Rome Open. The world No. 1 was once again received with a warm welcome from the public when he arrived at the training courts of the Foro Italico, where he spent time with dozens of children, hitting with several of them, taking photos, and giving autographs to the youngest fans.

The 3-time Grand Slam champion is preparing to debut this Saturday, May 10th, at the Italian Open, when he faces Argentine clay-court specialist Mariano Navone. It will be a good opportunity for Sinner to show his level upon arriving at the tournament after a three-month suspension that kept him away from the courts. The Italian has only played one tournament this season, back at the Australian Open, where he ended up winning the title. In this clay swing, he will seek to reassert his dominance from last year and fight for the title in Rome, to arrive in the best possible form for Roland Garros towards the end of the month.

ATP and WTA stars jointly created the ideal pre-match playlist, in which some of the biggest stars participated, including Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Grigor Dimitrov, Mirra Andreeva, and Daniil Medvedev. Among all the players, they mentioned the artists they like to listen to before entering the court, including the likes of Lil Wayne, Travis Scott, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, and Eminem, among others.

The video shared by the Italian Open's social media even created the playlist with the artists proposed by the players. The men's tournament finishes its second round this Saturday, with the last seeded players who have not yet taken the court making their debut, including Jannik Sinner and Taylor Fritz, while the women are ready to begin the third round, with Iga Swiatek, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula as the big stars of the day.