Denis Shapovalov accidentally hit chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani in the head during his 2024 Swiss Indoors Basel match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The Canadian rushed to apologize to the umpire before resuming the match.
Shapovalov faced an inspired Mpetshi Perricard in the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 in Basel on Friday, October 25. During the initial moments of the match, the Canadian tennis player suffered a massive scare after he accidentally hit Lahyani.
Denis Shapovalov was attempting to return one of Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s monstrous wide serves when his shot made its way directly to the chair umpire. The 25-year-old was visibly shocked by the error and rushed to apologize to Lahyani.
Lahyani soon burst into a smile and shook hands with the tennis player, acknowledging his apology. Thankfully, Shapovalov did not face any consequences, considering the shot was accidental and the ball hit the chair umpire mid-rally.
While Denis Shapovalov edged out Mpetshi Perricard in the opening set, 7-6(7), saving a couple of set points, the youngster made a timely recovery to stage a thrilling comeback, beating Shapovalov in the final set tiebreak 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(3) to effectively end his season.
He has now set up a clash with 2022 finalist Holger Rune for a spot in Sunday’s Swiss Indoors final. The winner of their match will face either Ben Shelton or Arthur Fils in the title clash.
This is not the first time that a chair umpire has suffered a blow due to a shot from Denis Shapovalov.
During Canada’s 2017 Davis Cup tie against Great Britain, Shapovalov angrily struck chair umpire Arnauld Gabas in the eye after being broken by opponent Kyle Edmund in the third set. While his aim wasn’t intentional, the infamous incident left Gabas with a black eye, and the Canadian tennis player was immediately disqualified from the match.
“Luckily he was okay but obviously it’s unacceptable behaviour from me,” Shapovalov said in his press conference at the time. “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,” he added.
Denis Shapovalov recently received yet another disqualification after he engaged in a war of words with a heckler during his quarterfinal against Ben Shelton at the 2024 Citi Open. However, several players sided with Shapovalov this time, suggesting that the decision was unfair.
