Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov misplaced his cool on the Italian Open, shouting "shut the f—up" at followers as a refrain of boos rained down upon him.
The 23-year-old squared off in opposition to Italian Lorenzo Sonego within the first spherical of the Open in Rome on Monday.
Shapovalov was down 3-4 within the second set when he crossed the web to test a ball mark on Sonego's aspect of the courtroom and was given a code violation.
The Canadian started to argue the code violation with chair umpire Richard Haigh when the hometown crowd started booing him. Shapovalov shortly turned from the umpire to direct a message on the crowd.
"Shut the f—up!" Shapovalov belted.
The Richmond Hill, Ont., native gained the marathon match 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3 in slightly below three hours 11 minutes.
He went on to apologize to Haigh following the match.
--with a file from the Related Press
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