Shapovalov defaulted on match point against Shelton in Washington

American Ben Shelton, the second seed, reached the semi-finals of the Citi Open when Canadian wildcard Denis Shapovalov was defaulted at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Washington on Friday night.

Incredible scenes unfolded in the quarter-final clash as Shelton led 7-6 (5), 6-6 (3) and held three match points, before Shapovalov was defaulted.

The Canadian had previously received a code violation for racquet abuse earlier in the match.

He again threw his racquet and verbally abused a member of the crowd, uttering an audible obscenity.

Understandably, Shapovalov was irate at the chair umpire’s decision, as was his opponent, Shelton.

Shelton said in Shapovalov’s defence to the umpire, “It’s 7-6, 6-6 in the tiebreak, that’s what you do!”. He could also be seen commiserating with Shapovalov at the net as the match ended.

Unless the decision is overturned, Shapovalov, who is currently ranked No 139 in the world and is trying to rebuild his ranking after being as high as No 10 in the world in 2020, will lose all of his ranking points from this week.

After the defaulting, Shapovalov could be overheard saying to the umpire, “This is not fair! I worked so hard all my life…” before shouting obscenities at his face.

Shelton will now play Italian Flavio Cobolli, the No 10 seed, next.

Ahead of his victory, Ben Shelton won against qualifier Radu Albot (6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3) and No 13 seed Brandon Nakashima (7-6 (5), 7-6 (4)).

The Canadian beat Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (6-1, 6-4), Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, the No 6 seed (6-2, 6-1) and Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, the No 12 seed (4-6, 6-4, 6-2) in the previous rounds of the Washington D.C. tournament.

Washington ATP 500, other quarter-finals results (William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, hard, USD 2.100.230, most recent results first):

• Andrey Rublev vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Sebastian Korda vs. Jordan Thompson: friday
• Flavio Cobolli beat Alex Michelsen (15): 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (2)