Denis Shapovalov italian open freakout

Viral video shows Toronto tennis star freaking out on crowd at the Italian Open

If you've never had the urge to throw your hands up at work and tell everyone bugging you to just SHUT THE F*CK UP already, congratulations on picking an atypically chill career.

The rest of us out here who aren't working on lavender farms are relating hard this week to video footage of Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov losing it on fans at the Italian Open.

Shapovalov, known by many as simply "Shapo," played an intense match on Monday morning against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego in Rome — a match that he ended up winning, but not without a struggle.

As the sports outlets tell it, Shapovalov (who was raised in Richmond Hill) was down 3-4 in the second set of his more than three-hour-long first-round match against Sorengo when he was given a code violation for crossing the court to check a ball mark on his opponent's side.

Upset over the violation, the 23-year-old Canadian called over an umpire to dispute it.

As they argued, the audience of Italian tennis fans start to boo Shapo, at which point he turned around to address them with a fiery "SHUT THE F*CK UP!"

While the athlete has since apologized for his outburst, footage from the moment has been spreading far and wide, racking up more than a million views within hours on one Twitter account alone.

Tennis fan or not, we can all agree that stress-related work freakouts can happen to everyone, from overwhelmed restaurant dishwasher to elite profesionnal athletes. This tiny tantrum from a Canadian millionaire in Italy is proof.

Lead photo by

doublefault28/Twitter


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Sports & Play

Women disappointed in changes to GoodLife gym in Ontario

Toronto Raptors fans completely lose it for dancing kid at Scotiabank Arena

NHL emergency backup goalie had to haul gear through busy Ontario traffic

Toronto Maple Leafs' Max Domi latest athlete to endorse controversial amulet

Ontario Olympic star Summer McIntosh smashes world record

Bell Media denies bombshell report from insider that TSN is for sale

Sportsnet could be taking Fan 590 radio station off the air in Toronto

Legendary Toronto sports radio host Bob McCown calls it a career