Denis Shapovalov has openly criticized the ATP for its failure to address the issue of heckling and disrespectful conduct by tennis fans during matches. Shapovalov expressed his viewpoint on X (formerly Twitter) after learning that World No. 32 Jordan Thompson had been taunted and harassed by two spectators sitting courtside during his first-round match at the 2024 Cincinnati Open.
Thompson found himself in a grueling three-set battle against French player Ugo Humbert. Despite losing the first set 3-6, Thompson managed to stage a comeback and ultimately secured victory in a decisive final set tie-break, causing an upset on his fourth match point.
However, the match will not be remembered for its thrilling display of skill and excitement, but rather for an incident related to gambling. A fan who was present at Court 4 shared a series of tweets as evidence of two individuals in the front row who repeatedly heckled the Australian player throughout the match.Furthermore, one of these individuals, identifiable by the white shirt he was wearing in a photo shared on X, was reported to have placed a bet on DraftKings for the match he was spectating.
“Two fans in the front row of Thompson vs Humbert @CincyTennis have heckled with Thompson twice now. First time Thompson was clearly agitated.”
During the match, Thompson expressed his frustrations to chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani, who temporarily left his seat to address the unruly behavior of the fans and restore order.However, this intervention had little effect, as Thompson continued to be subjected to distracting noises from the two individuals. Thompson even directly confronted them when he was leading 5-2 in the second set.
Although one of the hecklers eventually left the court, the other individual admitted to having placed a bet on Humbert, revealing his motive for ridiculing Thompson. Security officials warned him that if his behavior persisted and further annoyed the fans, he could be ejected from the premises.
“Getting more heated. Thompson directly interacting with them after a third roasting from the fans.
“Security asking the man to quiet down or he will be thrown out. This is at the changeover 6-3, 2-5 with Humbert leading. For a second time the white shirt man mentioned having a bet on Humbert and argued his case.”
This recent incident bears similarities to Shapovalov’s own encounter with a fan during his quarterfinal match against Ben Shelton earlier this month. The Canadian player was disqualified on match point for using profanity to berate a spectator.Shapovalov was incredulous at the decision to disqualify him, although he successfully appealed to retain his prize money and tournament points. Several players and fans rallied behind the 25-year-old, defending his behavior. He used the platform X to criticize the ATP for failing to safeguard the players. The organization responsible for overseeing men’s tennis has established a set of guidelines for fan conduct during tournaments, but ensuring compliance and enforcing these regulations has proven to be extremely difficult.
Photo from Denis Shapovalov Instagram
