Tennis has always been an aggressive sport, and on the court, things often heat up very quickly. The relationship between a player and a chair referee isn’t always at its best, and this was evident in the doubles match at this week’s Indian Wells Masters. In the last 16 game between Denis Shapovalov/Rohan Bopanna and Santiago González/Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Shapovalov and Bopanna got into an ugly fight with the 1st referee.
In González’s second set to serve, Shapovalov made a deep comeback in the net, where the Mexican player attempted a volley. Apparently, the ball bounced on his side of the court before it went to the other half, but to everyone’s surprise, the referee gave points to Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin. The referee thought Gonzalez had hit a clean volley. the ball clearly bounced on his side of the court.
“For me it was his racket, I couldn’t see another bounce. I didn’t see it, so I can’t say if I didn’t see it because his racket was there.” chair referee explained.
But Bopanna went to him and explained that the ball was the racket first, then on the court, hence topspin. “That was his racket, then the court. That’s why it had topspin on it! That’s why the ball came so fast because if you put a racket like that, it goes up.” Indian explained.
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But Shapovalov was very angry at this call. He lashed out at the referee and said that if the woman couldn’t see such a simple conversation, it was a joke and there was no point in playing tennis. He also added that if he doesn’t understand basic tennis, there’s no point in being in a chair.
“If you don’t see that, it’s a joke. If you don’t see anything like this, there’s no point in playing. If you don’t see anything like THIS, there’s no point in being there. can you agree with me? I mean basic tennis” said Shapovalov.
Bopanna once again asked him what he thought of the subject and explained to him the basic physics. “So you’re saying the ball bounced or bounced? Has he ever jumped? When a ball hits the racket, it goes up, not down. So if you’re going down, hit the racket and the ball first.” said.
Shapovalov ended the argument by saying it was the cleanest shot he had ever seen in his life and shouted that the referee shouldn’t have been there. “I mean, it was the cleanest shot I’ve ever seen in my life! You shouldn’t be there, you shouldn’t be!” said.
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