Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov has lashed out at organisers of the French Open over an array of issues following his marathon second round loss.
The ninth seed crashed out 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6, to Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena after a five-hour tussle between the two. Shapovalov served for the match at 5-4 in the decider but failed to capitalise on the opportunity as he produced 106 unforced errors. More than double Baena’s tally of 42.
The loss occurred on the same day the Canadian played his doubles match alongside India’s Rohan Bopanna in a schedule that Shapovalov has described as ‘trash’ during his post-match press conference. The bemused world No.11 complained it was unacceptable for him to be expected to play his doubles match just hours after his five-hour clash with Baena.
“The scheduling is absolutely awful. I mean, after a five-hour match I have to play doubles now. It’s just complete trash scheduling,” said Shapovalov.
“I don’t want to sound spoiled but you expect at least some help from the tournament to help you compete. I mean, how am I supposed to come out and play doubles now after a five-hour match? It’s a first round as well, they could have scheduled it way better, way easier, I mean it’s not acceptable.”
On court, the 21-year-old became the latest player to criticise the change of balls from Babolat to Wilson at this year’s tournament. There have been concerns the new balls have become slower and heavier to hit on the court during the cool conditions. Great Britain’s Dan Evans went as far as saying some of the balls he “wouldn’t give to a dog to chew” following his first round loss.
“I was playing in Rome and I could actually hit winners. Here it’s just like the ball’s not going anywhere,” he said.
“It’s just annoying that you have to be in that situation because in my opinion it shouldn’t be that heavy and that difficult.”
It isn’t just the scheduling and balls that has upset Shapovalov as he continued his verbal tirade at the organisers of Roland Garros. Another criticism from him concerned the player accommodation which he describes as substandard compared to the US Open. In New York players were kept in a bubble and restricted as to where they could go. In Paris players also have to stay in designated hotels, but those facilities are also open up to members of the public.
“There is no bubble,” he stated. “You can leave the hotel, you can goto the city, there’s no problem, there’s nobody stopping you. New York was done way better.”
Shapovalov and Bopanna lost their doubles match 6-2, 6-2, to Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil. He is the third top 10 seed to exit the men’s singles draw after Daniil Medvedev and Gael Monfils.
