Shapovalov: “I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed”

Denis Shapovalov has spoken of his regret after he was defaulted from his reverse singles rubber of the Canada v Great Britain Davis Cup tie in Ottawa.

Shapovalov was trailing by two sets to love and 2-1 in the third when he swatted a ball in frustration – which hit the chair umpire in the eye.

The incident led to Shapovalov being defaulted from the match, handing Great Britain a 3-2 victory and a place in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.

“I went back and spoke to the umpire afterwards and apologised directly to him,” Shapovalov said.

“Luckily he was okay but obviously it’s unacceptable behaviour from me. I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed and I just feel awful for letting my team down, for letting my country down, for acting in a way that I would never want to act.

“I can promise that’s the last time I will do anything like that. I’m going to learn from this and try to move past it.”

Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau added: “I didn’t see what happened. When the last point was over I got up to see if on the changeover he’d have all his drinks and bananas and I just heard the crowd go quiet and then I looked back to see what had happened to the umpire and that’s when I realised he was in the middle of it all.

“I knew immediately the rules are the rules and you’ve got to play by the rules.

“He’s a kid, he wants to face the music, he’s not going to shy away.

“He’s got some great talent and it’s just the beginning of his career. He’ll draw a big lesson out of this. Hopefully this makes Denis a stronger person, a better player but a better person, and he’s already a great kid.”