Tennis
“This is not tennis.” The strange trick of the player at Wimbledon infuriated the opponent
Denis Shapovalov / Photo: © DeFodi Images / Contributor / DeFodi Images / Gettyimages.ru
The tactical ploy worked.
The next match at Wimbledon brought not only struggle and intrigue, but also an occasion for unpleasant conversations. This time the 29th number of the ATP rating Denis Shapovalov suffered. He considered that his opponent was behaving unsportsmanlike at the reception.
The tennis player almost ran around the court waiting for the serve!
The third time
In the first round of Wimbledon, Canadian Denis Shapovalov met with Radu Albot from Moldova. The Canadian tennis player with Russian roots received the 26th seed at the tournament, and his opponent had to go through a difficult qualification. Previously, they played each other twice at ATP tournaments and exchanged victories: Albot won in Sofia in 2020, and Shapovalov won in Seoul in 2022.
The next round of confrontation at first was not in favor of Shapovalov. The first set was left for Albot, albeit in an equal fight – 7:5. The Canadian was summed up by double errors on the pitch, while Radu practically did not have them (6:1).
The second set went 2-2 when the match was stopped due to darkness. The game will resume on July 4th.
“This is not tennis”
The match was remembered not only by the intense struggle in the first set, but also by the not entirely adequate behavior of Radu Albot. With a score of 5:5, the Moldavian, having two break points, approached the net on Shapovalov’s serve, and then quickly returned deep into the court. This confused the Canadian, who made a double fault and gave up the game.
After a short break, Denis went to the referee with a complaint. In his opinion, the opponent behaved unsportsmanlike, and this should be stopped.
– He is constantly jumping around the court. This is absurd. I’ll start the same now, and then we’ll have a party here. But it’s not fair, it’s not tennis. The only purpose of this is to distract me, ”the Tennis Infinity portal quotes Shapovalov as saying.
However, the referee did not punish the Moldovan tennis player.
Peeped at Bagel?
Similar exits to the net during someone else’s serve have already been observed in world tennis. Such a tactical ploy is used to confuse the opponent and knock him out of the rhythm.
The Tennis Infinity portal cites the example of Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan, who played with namesake Zverev at the ATP 500 tournament in Halle, Germany. With the score 5:5 in the second set, Bublik took a few steps deep into the court on Zverev’s serve, and then returned to the back, defended himself and won the game with a cool diagonal strike. The opponent looked at him with displeasure, but no complaints were reported.
Perhaps Radu Albot spied such tactics from Alexander Bublik. Whether he will use it in the future, time will tell. But we can definitely say that his match with Denis Shapovalov will now attract increased public attention.
Source: Sportbox
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