The Debate: Does Shapovalov’s fine fit the crime?

If you haven’t seen or heard about it already, here’s a quick refresher …

Denis Shapovalov, a teenager from Canada, was playing Kyle Edmund in the live fifth rubber of his country’s World Group tie against Great Britain in Ottawa. After falling behind two sets to love and a break in the third, Shapovalov swatted a ball in frustration – which smacked chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye.

Shapovalov was immediately defaulted – handing Great Britain a 3-2 victory. Gabas was taken to hospital, where scans cleared him of damage to his cornea and retina.

Tennismash staffers Paul Moore and Matt Trollope debate the adequacy of the resulting $7,000 fine that was handed down to Shapovalov, for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Was it enough?

Matt Trollope – YES

This incident is perhaps one of the most shocking things I’ve seen on a tennis court. Yet when it happened, Shapovalov’s horrified reaction said it all – this was clearly a mistake and something he instantly regretted. Apart from feeling terrible for the umpire who’d been hit, I immediately felt sorry for Shapovalov, who at just 17 years of age had become infamous as well as handing Great Britain a 3-2 win in the tie after being defaulted on the spot.

The embarrassment and shame in his actions, plus the guilt he must have felt about letting his team down, were perhaps punishment enough. A fine was definitely necessary – such actions must somehow be deterred – and this was one of the heavier ones. But the fact the maximum $12,000 fine was reduced to $7,000 after accounting for the unintentional nature of the act – he meant to smack the ball, but not for it to hit the umpire – as well as his obvious remorse and subsequent apology was, I think, a sensible outcome.

A foot lower, and the ball would have struck the umpire harmlessly on the arm. Six inches across, and it would have missed the umpire altogether. Late last year, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray whacked/kicked balls in frustration, were lucky to miss officials and ball kids, and escaped unpunished – for exactly the same action as Shapovalov. Earlier this year, Djokovic struck a ball in Doha which hit a spectator, but was not defaulted.

I’m not condoning Shapovalov’s actions, by any means. But hefty fine or not, you can be sure it will be a long time before the young Canadian smacks another ball in anger.

Paul Moore – NO

Absolutely not. But before I go into the whys of all that, let me say that I do feel a bit sorry for Denis Shapovalov. From all reports he’s a good guy, he’s got a huge future, and there’s no doubt that what he did was an accident.

But make no mistake: that accident could easily have ended Arnauld Gabas’ career. If that ball had hit the Frenchman a couple of centimetres higher then, in all probability, it would have damaged the vision that his job is dependent upon.

In that context, a fine of US$7k – a fraction of the probable fee that Shapovalov would have been paid for playing in the tie – hardly reflects the gravity of the incident.

What’s more, the sport has once again failed to set any sort of precedent that protects officials from abuse – verbal or physical – on the court.

Tennis players get paid an astronomical amount of money, particularly in comparison to umpires (Gold badge officials get paid around US$2k for working a Davis Cup World Group tie). A US$7k fine is a drop in the ocean for someone like Denis Shapovalov, and provides little deterrent to any of his peers. A proper fine (running in to the tens of thousands) and a suspension might.

There’s also, for want of a better phrase, the Nick Kyrgios question.

Kyrgios earlier deleted a tweet in which he had opined ‘Haha no suspension? This is too good’. And while the Australian might not be best placed to chide, he does have a point. Imagine what would have happened had he – or other perceived ‘bad boys’ like Fognini or Gulbis – done this? There would have been universal condemnation and lengthy suspensions.

Just because someone is ‘a good guy’ it doesn’t mean that they have the right to lash out on court and effectively get away with it. That is what the ITF allowed Denis Shapovalov to do on Sunday, and on many levels it is completely wrong.