Tennis player Denis Shapovalov launched a fierce tirade at an umpire after being denied a bathroom break during his first round Australian Open encounter, promising to relieve himself on the court as he reached bursting point.
The Canadian number one claimed he was struggling to hold himself in after dropping the fourth set of his match against Italian rival Jannik Sinner on Monday.
Shapovalov’s request for a bathroom break was denied by the umpire because, according to the rules, a player who has called a medical time-out cannot leave the court while waiting for medical help.
The 21-year-old was infuriated by the umpire’s decision, embarking in a heated spat with the match official while threatening to obey his call of nature right on Margaret Court.
“What happens if I go?” asked Shapovalov “Do I get a fine? I don't care.
“What do you mean I can't go? Are you going to disqualify me? I have to pee!
He went on to fume: “I'm going to p*ss my pants. I'm going to p*ss in a bottle. You guys are not allowing players to p*ss? I don't understand this rule."
To the great delight of the crowd, the player didn’t carry out his threats as he was allowed to leave the court during the next break.
Shapovalov booked a spot in the second round of action after surviving the five-set thriller against Sinner 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.
He managed to avoid a second straight loss in the Australian Open first round, after losing to Marton Fucsovics in four sets at the same stage last year.
Speaking after the match, Shapovalov, whose mother was part of the Soviet tennis team and moved to Tel-Aviv with his parents from Russia, played down the seriousness of the exchange.
"I was just blowing off steam, just kind of cooling my head, getting rid of it," he said.
"But also, I do think it's a dumb rule. Especially for me - I've got the smallest bladder ever, so I literally got to take a p*ss every set.
"It's difficult, especially when you're on that court for so long. Before the match I'm trying to hydrate as much as possible. So yeah, I gotta pee."
As a teenager, Shapovalov was involved in a harrowing incident when he fired a ball in anger and accidentally struck Arnaud Gabas in the chair, leaving the umpire with a fractured eye socket.
He was fined $7,000 for the incident and admitted that it would always play on his mind, although the official immediately forgave him despite requiring surgery on the injury.
Shapovalov needed help to recover from the incident and has remained in contact with Gabas, saying that the shock helped him to become a calmer player.
He will next face Australia’s Bernard Tomic, who claimed his first Australian Open win since 2017 after opponent Yuichi Sugita retired hurt.
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