"Denis Shapovalov got some serious flashbacks" - Fans amused as Canadian accidentally hits chair umpire at Swiss Indoors, escapes punishment this time

Several fans were left amused after Denis Shapovalov accidentally struck chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani during his 2024 Swiss Indoors quarterfinal match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The incident also prompted some fans to recall a similar one from the 2017 Davis Cup.

Shapovalov's run in Basel concluded with a loss to Perricard, whose 27 aces and 75% success on service points proved decisive. Perricard won the match with a score of 6-7(7), 6-3, 7-6(3) to reach the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event.

Early in the match, an unexpected incident left Shapovalov stunned. Attempting to return Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard’s quick wide serve, Shapovalov’s shot inadvertently struck the chair umpire. The 25-year-old promptly approached the umpire to apologize. Lahyani smiled and shook hands with the Canadian, accepting his apology.

Watch the clip shared by a fan on Reddit:

Shapo hits umpire (SFW Edition) byu/musicproducer07 intennis

Notably, a similar incident occurred during the 2017 Davis Cup tie in Ottawa. While facing Kyle Edmund, Shapovalov angrily struck a ball that hit chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye. Consequently, he was defaulted and fined $7,000 by the International Tennis Federation.

The incident in Basel, however, left many netizens amused, with some having flashbacks to the 2017 Davis Cup.

"I bet he got some serious flashbacks there lol," a fan said.

Comment byu/musicproducer07 from discussion intennis

"You just know Shapo was seeing helicopters in Vietnam right there," another fan said.

"its always lahyani, GOAT umpire," third fan said.

Here are a few more reactions from the fans:

"DShap has gotten over his unfortunate ump incidents...but seems his racket has not. /s," a fan commented.

"His racquet is doing his dirty work for him. Well trained best friend 🐶," a fan chimed in.

"That’s a different umpire than “last time” right? 🎾👀," another wrote.

After defeating Shapovalov, Perricard will face Holger Rune for a place in Sunday’s Swiss Indoors final. The winner of that match faces either Ben Shelton or Arthur Fils in the summit clash.

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"I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed": Denis Shapovalov apologized for the 2017 Davis Cup incident

Denis Shapovalov at Davis Cup Finals Group Stage - Source: Getty

Denis Shapovalov apologized for mistakenly hitting chair umpire Arnaud Gabas during the 2017 Davis Cup. The Canadian said he was ashamed of his actions and vowed it would not happen again.

"I feel incredibly ashamed and embarrassed and I just feel awful for letting my team down, for letting my country down, for acting in a way that I would never want to act. I can promise that’s the last time I will do anything like that. I’m going to learn from this and try to move past it," Shapovalov said (via The Indian Express).

The incident resulted in Gabas sustaining a black eye, and he underwent surgery for a fractured bone beneath his left eye. Shapovalov's action was deemed an immediate default, which gave Britain the victory and took them through to the Davis Cup quarterfinals.