Denis Shapovalov confronted Adrian Mannarino in the middle of their first-round Cincinnati Open match after the Frenchman tagged him during a rally. In the fourth game of the second set, Shapovalov came into the net. The world No. 52 responded by hitting the ball right in his direction. The Canadian couldn’t respond, turning away, and Mannarino won the point.
Mid-match confrontation
Shapovalov wasn’t happy, glaring at his opponent over the net and suggesting that the 38-year-old had options to hit the ball elsewhere in the court. Shapovalov won the first set but trailed 0-3 in the second when Mannarino tagged him mid-rally. The world No. 48 lingered at the net and stared Mannarino down, telling him: “You had the full court. Didn’t need to go straight at me.”
But Mannarino argued that he couldn’t have done anything else. “What do you want me to do? Bro,” the Frenchman replied. Commentator Mikey Perera said: “Ooh, there’s definitely a word from Shapovalov there. Hello!”
Revenge and victory
A slow-motion replay was shown, and co-commentator Robbie Koenig told viewers: “Completely legitimate shot. It didn’t even hit him. It’s come off the throat [of the racket].”
But Shapovalov got his revenge in the very next game. At 1-3 0-15, the 27-year-old managed to draw Mannarino into the net and fired the ball in his direction to win the point. Mannarino could only laugh. “Oh, hello! Okay. Right back at you. This is tasty,” Perera remarked. Koenig added: “Pure unadulterated power. And this one did find some skin. 105 miles an hour. Knew it was coming, didn’t he? That was 11 miles an hour faster than the Mannarino one.”
The contentious moment certainly fired Shapovalov up, and after trailing by an early break, he dropped only one more game to claim a 6-1 6-4 victory. “A spicy encounter and a pretty swift handshake. I don’t think we expected too much more love than that after a couple of lively moments between these two,” Perera said after the match.
Post-match comments
The former world No. 10 then claimed that Mannarino’s shot had been “uncalled for” during his post-match interview. “One for tennis players all around the world: is it ever okay to hit the ball hard at your opponent at the net?” Richard Connelly asked Shapovalov, who started laughing. “It depends on the situation. To be honest, I mean, yeah, it’s always a grey area, but I felt like that one was uncalled for from Adrian. He felt different. We had a few words back and forth,” the Canadian replied.
“I got my revenge with my forehand there, so we were even after that. It’s just kind of a tennis thing, I wouldn’t say it’s right or wrong, it just depends on the situation, depends on the ball. If you have another option, you play it. If you don’t, sometimes, yeah, it’s probably the best day. Definitely was looking for that fire!”
Shapovalov had been forced to retire from his home tournament, the Canadian Open, with an ankle injury. But he recovered to beat Mannarino and will now face No. 12 seed Rafael Jodar in the second round. “It’s amazing to be back on the court and feeling good with my ankle. Definitely, it’s been a frustrating year in terms of how my body has been feeling. But the game has been good, I’ve been playing well,” he added.
