Italian Open: Tennis Star Denis Shapovalov Shouts Shut The F*** Up At Fan During Match | Watch Video

New Delhi: World no.16 tennis player Denis Shapovalov lost his cool in an Italian Open match against Lorenzo Sonego. In a discussion with the umpire, Shapovalov shouted shut the F*** up to a fan who was heckling him during a conversation with the umpire. However, the 23-year acknowledged that his own behaviour was also not acceptable.

The incident got captured on camera and the video has gone viral ever since. Watch video here:

🗣️(🎥@eurosport) pic.twitter.com/xvWWxwXWHu

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After the match, Shapovalov in a news conference said that,”He was just telling me to get off the court, get out of there, waving me off the court. Trying to obviously get under my skin or whatnot,’

‘I think the umpire just needs to keep an eye on it if a player mentions something. The reason why [the heckler] didn’t get kicked out was because [the umpire] told me he didn’t see what happened. That’s very understandable. I feel like he kept an eye on him after that. It didn’t bother me after that.’

The 23-year-old suggested that tennis should follow the example of NBA in dealing with the hecklers.

‘In the NBA there’s a lot of hecklers and stuff like that,’ he said. ‘They’re pretty strict, the security and everything, that [fans] don’t cross the line. If they do, they’re kicked out right away. It’s a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing. I just need to improve with handling myself about that,’ Shapovalov said.

‘But in terms of going forward, I’ve played in Rome a lot of times. The fans love me here and I love the fans… even after the match, there were a lot of people standing, waiting for pictures, stuff like that.

‘I do really appreciate the sport and the love I get here. I’m super excited to play another match – not against an Italian.’