Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Denis Shapovalov threatened to leave the court in a furious meltdown during his ATP 500 Dallas Open semi-final defeat against Ben Shelton. 

The Canadian was enraged with what he perceived as crowd disruptions and aired his grievances to the umpire after the second set, demanding the removal of a fan. Shaopvalov, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon back in 2021, took the first set 6-4, but Shelton equalled things up by taking the second set 4-6.

It was in the break between the second and third set that Shapovalov spoke to the umpire. He was unhappy and claimed that someone in the crowd was shouting while he was serving.

Incensed, he furiously confronted the umpire and was heard saying: “Tell them I’ll walk off the court right now.”

The umpire tried to calm the 26-year-old down, but he continued to complain as he walked back to his chair, appearing to say: “I’m out.” However, he did carry on playing and was eventually defeated by the American.

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Shelton appeared to ignore what was going on and continued his own preparations for the deciding set. In what was a close encounter, the American eventually came out as the winner in a tiebreaker, taking the set 7-6, and the match 2-1.

That sets up a clash in the final with fellow countryman Taylor Fritz, which takes place on Sunday. The winner will walk away with 500 ATP Tour points on a £390,000 ($529,000) cheque.

Responding to the win over Shapovalov, Shelton said: “It was a gritty win. A lot of credit to Denis, the way he’s playing on this court. It’s a freight train coming at you.

“I’ve really made a concerted effort to show up to each tournament this year with the mindset that I want to win it. I’m there, each and every match, putting myself in the position that I need to compete at the highest levels.”