GREAT BRITAIN SECURED their place in the Davis Cup quarter-finals in surreal circumstances as Canada’s Denis Shapovalov was defaulted for smashing the ball into the face of the umpire.
The 17-year-old was two sets down to Kyle Edmund in the deciding rubber when he sent a backhand wide to hand his opponent a break in the early stages of the third.
In frustration, Shapovalov took a spare ball from his pocket and fired it away, where it flew directly into the face of chair umpire Arnaud Gabas.
Shapovalov immediately showed his remorse, going up to check on Gabas, who had no option but to award the match, and consequently the tie, to Great Britain.
“I would like to begin with apologizing to that umpire, the referee and to all ITF officials,” said Shapovalov. “It was unacceptable behavior from me.
I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed, for letting my team down and my country down. That’s the last time I’m going to do anything like that. I’m going to learn from it.”
“It was a strange way to finish, I’ve never been part of something like that,” added Edmund.
“It’s a surprise what happened at the end,” added captain Leon Smith. “It’s a shame it happened that way and I feel for the young man, he’s a great talent and he’s learnt a harsh lesson today.”
Great Britain, champions in 2015, will meet France in the last eight.
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