Denis Shapovalov has openly criticized the ATP for its lack of measures to curb heckling and disrespectful behavior of tennis fans during matches.
Shapovalov made his point in a post on X (formerly Twitter) upon learning that World No. 32 Jordan Thompson was mocked and harassed by two fans sitting courtside during his first-round match at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
Thompson was embroiled in a tough three-set battle against French lefty Ugo Humbert. He recovered from losing the opening set 3-6 to win in a deciding final set tie-break, sealing the upset on his fourth match point.
But the contest will not be remembered for its high quality and drama but for reasons related to gambling. One fan who was in attendance on Court 4 posted a series of tweets as evidence of two men who were watching from the front row heckled the Australian player multiple times.
In addition, one of them, who was dressed in a white shirt from the photo shared on X, was reported for placing a bet on DraftKings of the match he was watching.
"Two fans in the front row of Thompson vs Humbert @CincyTennis have heckled with Thompson twice now. First time Thompson was clearly agitated."
During the match, Thompson vented his frustrations to the chair umpire, Mohamed Lahyani, who left his seat to tell the fans to quiet down and maintain order.
But it had little effect, as Thomspon was subjected to even more distracting noises from the two men and directly confronted them when he led 5-2 in the second set.
Although one of them left the court, the other explained that he had placed a bet on Humbert, which indicated his motive to ridicule Thompson. The security officials warned him that he risked being thrown out of the premises if his behavior persisted as fans became increasingly annoyed.
"Getting more heated. Thompson directly interacting with them after a third roasting from the fans.
"Security asking the man to quiet down or he will be thrown out. This is at the changeover 6-3, 2-5 with Humbert leading. For a second time the white shirt man mentioned having a bet on Humbert and argued his case."
The latest episode mirrors Shapovalov 's confrontation with a fan during his quarterfinal match against Ben Shelton earlier this month. The Canadian was disqualified on match point for using profanity to berate a spectator.
Shapovalov was in disbelief at the decision to default him, although he was successful in his appeal to retain prize money and points from the tournament. Several players and fans defended the 25-year-old over his behavior.
He took to X to call out the ATP for not protecting the players. The governing body of men's tennis has a code of conduct for fan behavior in tournaments, but enforcement and adherence to these rules have been quite challenging, to say the least.
"So @atptour how long are we going to keep allowing these things to go on?"
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