Shapovalov walks away as opponent argues with umpire – ‘she doesn’t like me’

01/21/2022

Denis Shapovalov didn't want to hang around waiting while third round opponent Reilly Opelka argued with the umpire at the Australian Open.

The world no 14 finished strongly to win in four sets at the Margaret Court Arena, eventually prevailing 7-6 4-6 6-3 6-4.

The Canadian, a semi finalist at Wimbledon last year where he was beaten by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, has now secured his best ever run at Melbourne Park by securing a spot in the last 16.

His win over Opelka ended the American's own hopes of a first ever fourth round appearance at the tournament, but a tight contest was tainted by a bizarre talking point midway through the first set.

With the scores locked at 40-40 and deuce, Opelka, 24, was given a time violation warning as he appeared to prolong the build-up to his crucial serve.

In a strange riposte, he argued the call before concluding with comments aimed at the female umpire: "Really, I brought my pink bag and she was like 'oh no turn around' – she doesn't like me," he said.

He then seemed to be in conversation with the crowd, saying the officiating was affecting his "mental health."

In the meantime, Shapovalov, 22, had gone to the back of the court to take his own timeout and wipe himself down with a towel, meaning that when Opelka was finally ready to serve – there was further delay as he waited for his opponent to return to his position.

The controversy seemed to affect the American more, putting a routine forehand into the net after Shapovalov had done well to return serve.

And later in the contest it was the Canadian who found form when it mattered most, to back up earlier wins over Serbia’s Laslo Djere and South Korean player Kwon Soon-woo – despite the latter match yielding five sets and nearly four and a half hours on court.

Shapovalov has been viewed as a dark horse capable of going far in Melbourne, and he came into the tournament with momentum having won the men’s ATP Cup earlier this month in Sydney alongside Canadian teammates Felix Auger-Aliassime, Brayden Schnur and Steven Diez.

Fatigue from a recent bout of COVID-19 forced Shapovalov him to sit out the start of the tournament but he claimed before the Australian Open to be back at 100%.

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