Canada v GB Davis Cup 2017

[Sir David Gray]

After day one, the teams were level at 1-1.

The doubles match is currently one set all and 5-5 in the third set.

No Andy Murray or Milos Raonic involved in this tie so it's very much a second string for both sides.

The winner plays France in the quarter finals.

[Sir David Gray]

GB win in 4 sets and go 2-1 up in the tie.

Just one win from tomorrow's two singles matches required.

[Sir David Gray]

Vasek Pospisil takes the first set against Dan Evans on a tiebreak.

Evans was 3-1 up and had points for a double break to make it 4-1 so he'll be pretty down about losing that.

Hopefully he can recover.

[Sir David Gray]

Canada two sets up, looks like it will be up to Kyle Edmund in the final rubber.

[Sir David Gray]

Evans wins five games in a row from 3-1 down to take the third set.

[Sir David Gray]

Pospisil won in four sets so it's into a fifth and deciding rubber between Kyle Edmund and Denis Shapovalov, who's 17 years old.

Shapovalov currently serving at 3-4 down in the first set.

[Sir David Gray]

GB looking good to get through to the next round as Edmund goes two sets up.

I don't see him losing from here.

[Sir David Gray]

Canada defaulted after Shapovalov smacked a ball in anger and it caught the umpire in the eye.

It doesn't look good for him, his eye was closing up as he left the court.

[Sergey]

Un******real ending to the tie. Bizarre in the extreme.

[theonlywayisup]

Ouch!!!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38876724

[lord bunberry]

The more I see it the worse it gets. He absolutely whacked it right into his face.

[Sir David Gray]

The more I see it the worse it gets. He absolutely whacked it right into his face.

The umpire will be very lucky if he's avoided any permanent damage to that eye.

The ball must have been travelling at well over 100mph when it hit him and it was from a relatively short distance away as well.

I would be very surprised if Canada are allowed to play their relegation play off match now as well. In any other tournament, the player/doubles team concerned would be eliminated completely from the tournament so I would have thought that Canada would be automatically relegated from the World Group now.

[--------]

The more I see it the worse it gets. He absolutely whacked it right into his face.

People can make all sorts of excuses about disappointment and frustration and "he's only a teenager" and what have you. Whoever that ball hit was going to feel it sore. If it hadn't been the umpire it would have been a spectator, maybe not quite as badly but a sore one nevertheless.

Maybe the officials for his next match should be issued with these?

https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/8979/13/XXX_8979_128362452.jpg

[lord bunberry]

People can make all sorts of excuses about disappointment and frustration and "he's only a teenager" and what have you. Whoever that ball hit was going to feel it sore. If it hadn't been the umpire it would have been a spectator, maybe not quite as badly but a sore one nevertheless.

Maybe the officials for his next match should be issued with these?

https://a.1stdibscdn.com/archivesE/upload/8979/13/XXX_8979_128362452.jpg
Ha ha that would be a good idea :greengrin

[lord bunberry]

For anyone who hasn't seen it
https://youtu.be/jd0hEF3XOfs

https://youtu.be/jd0hEF3XOfs

[--------]

For anyone who hasn't seen it
https://youtu.be/jd0hEF3XOfs

https://youtu.be/jd0hEF3XOfs


They're making excuses for him, but I can't see it myself. Between modern equipment and high levels of strength and fitness, a tennis ball can almost be a lethal weapon these days.

If I were to be really cynical about it, I'd say Junior was getting his backside skelped in a match he must have fancied winning (Kyle Edmund didn't play at all well in his first match) and Junior didn't like it.

Throwing a hissy fit and nearly taking out the umpire's left eye is what I would call it.

[Hibby Bairn]

Brat.

[--------]

Brat.


Exactly. :agree:

[Pretty Boy]

I felt a bit sorry for him at first as he clearly didn't intend to hit the umpire. However watching it again he smashed the ball with real force in temper. If he hadn't hit the umpire it could well have hit someone else and that's not on.

I'm sure we have all had the red mist come down at some point but ultimately we will just as likely all have paid a price for it. This situation is no different. Intentional or otherwise he deserves all he gets.

[Sir David Gray]

To be honest he does seem like quite a nice young man by all accounts.

He has also come out today and been completely honest about how he feels about himself and has said that this will never happen again. He's also offered no excuses for what he's done and went straight to the referee's room when he left the court, to apologise to the umpire.

He is only 17 and he's learned a very harsh lesson in very public circumstances. It's a lesson that I hope he learns from and I think he will.

Tennis players do what he did in almost every single tournament and the consequences are never usually so serious. Hopefully yesterday's incident will prevent others from doing this in the future as the umpire is extremely fortunate that he hasn't suffered permanent eye damage.

[HibernianJK]

To be honest he does seem like quite a nice young man by all accounts.

He has also come out today and been completely honest about how he feels about himself and has said that this will never happen again. He's also offered no excuses for what he's done and went straight to the referee's room when he left the court, to apologise to the umpire.

He is only 17 and he's learned a very harsh lesson in very public circumstances. It's a lesson that I hope he learns from and I think he will.

Tennis players do what he did in almost every single tournament and the consequences are never usually so serious. Hopefully yesterday's incident will prevent others from doing this in the future as the umpire is extremely fortunate that he hasn't suffered permanent eye damage.

Agreed. Think folk are being far too harsh on the lad. Obviously it's out of order but it's not like he's meant it and I very much doubt he'll do it again. He's only 17 year old FFS we've all been there when the red mist descends.

[--------]

To be honest he does seem like quite a nice young man by all accounts.

He has also come out today and been completely honest about how he feels about himself and has said that this will never happen again. He's also offered no excuses for what he's done and went straight to the referee's room when he left the court, to apologise to the umpire.

He is only 17 and he's learned a very harsh lesson in very public circumstances. It's a lesson that I hope he learns from and I think he will.

Tennis players do what he did in almost every single tournament and the consequences are never usually so serious. Hopefully yesterday's incident will prevent others from doing this in the future as the umpire is extremely fortunate that he hasn't suffered permanent eye damage.


Actually, no, they don't. Most find ways of coping with defeat and disappointment without injuring any of the bystanders. The reason this incident has been getting the attention it has is because incidents like this are so rare.

So we now have his public repentance. Maybe he's sincere. Maybe he's just trying to influence the governing body to go easy on him. Words are cheap.

Competitors in sports have to get used to the fact that there'll be times when they lose matches they think they should be winning. There will be times when they'll feel really bad feelings. Public humiliation, even. That's just the way things go in competitive sports. There are days you win and days you lose, and when you lose you suck it up and get on with it. If you want to start throwing equipment around, you wait till you're back in the dressing-room. If you're a footballer and your team's going down 7-0 and the red mist descends and you go over the ball and right through one of the opposition, you'll see a red card. A rugby player losing it - sin bin or red card. It's life.

And if I had paid big money to attend the final day of a big Davis Cup tie and ended up with a shiner because one of the players I had paid to see threw a hissy and belted the ball full force into the stands, I would be much, much less than impressed.

[HibernianJK]

Actually, no, they don't. Most find ways of coping with defeat and disappointment without injuring any of the bystanders. The reason this incident has been getting the attention it has is because incidents like this are so rare.

So we now have his public repentance. Maybe he's sincere. Maybe he's just trying to influence the governing body to go easy on him. Words are cheap.

Competitors in sports have to get used to the fact that there'll be times when they lose matches they think they should be winning. There will be times when they'll feel really bad feelings. Public humiliation, even. That's just the way things go in competitive sports. There are days you win and days you lose, and when you lose you suck it up and get on with it. If you want to start throwing equipment around, you wait till you're back in the dressing-room. If you're a footballer and your team's going down 7-0 and the red mist descends and you go over the ball and right through one of the opposition, you'll see a red card. A rugby player losing it - sin bin or red card. It's life.

And if I had paid big money to attend the final day of a big Davis Cup tie and ended up with a shiner because one of the players I had paid to see threw a hissy and belted the ball full force into the stands, I would be much, much less than impressed.

And sometimes young men under pressure do stupid things that cost them. They learn from it and everyone moves on.

[--------]

And sometimes young men under pressure do stupid things that cost them. They learn from it and everyone moves on.

And that learning takes place most effectively when actions have consequences.

Many people assume that because tennis players are at opposite ends of the court with a net between them that there's no danger of one player injuring the other. But there are line judges, the umpire, and the teenagers who retrieve loose tennis balls, bring the players towels and drinks etc on court as well. They have to be protected from prima donnas with entitlement issues, and teenagers lacking discipline and self-control who place other people at risk.

When I was younger I participated in a combat sport where discipline was a major element in the safety code. Tantrums and reactions like the one we're discussing happened, and were dealt with firmly and decisively, and no excuses were accepted. In combat sports this has to be the way otherwise someone ends up in hospital. Or on a slab.

Suspend the guy from international competition for a year or so. Suspend Canada from the Davis Cup now - before the relegation play-off they have on the calendar. That'll hurt. And give this guy a suspended suspension from all tennis for the next year, maybe two. Any more problems, and he doesn't play for a while. He will then learn self-control much more quickly than if we all get sympathetic and gooey about how young he is and how much he regrets his actions NOW, after the event.

Making excuses does the guy no favours.

[Hibee87]

Jeezus, you would think the guy shot and killed the umpire or somthing.

He hit the ball in frustration intending it to go in the air, you see tennis players do it all the time. By the time it goes up and slowly comes down one fan gets a wee souvenir. everyone is happy (except the frustrated layer). in this instance it came off the racket wrong and hit the umpire. HE got a fine and canada lost the match. anything more than that is just ridiculous!

[HibernianJK]

And that learning takes place most effectively when actions have consequences.

Many people assume that because tennis players are at opposite ends of the court with a net between them that there's no danger of one player injuring the other. But there are line judges, the umpire, and the teenagers who retrieve loose tennis balls, bring the players towels and drinks etc on court as well. They have to be protected from prima donnas with entitlement issues, and teenagers lacking discipline and self-control who place other people at risk.

When I was younger I participated in a combat sport where discipline was a major element in the safety code. Tantrums and reactions like the one we're discussing happened, and were dealt with firmly and decisively, and no excuses were accepted. In combat sports this has to be the way otherwise someone ends up in hospital. Or on a slab.

Suspend the guy from international competition for a year or so. Suspend Canada from the Davis Cup now - before the relegation play-off they have on the calendar. That'll hurt. And give this guy a suspended suspension from all tennis for the next year, maybe two. Any more problems, and he doesn't play for a while. He will then learn self-control much more quickly than if we all get sympathetic and gooey about how young he is and how much he regrets his actions NOW, after the event.

Making excuses does the guy no favours.

So that fact that he's a 17 year old guy who's made a mistake, openly admitted it, said he would accept punishment, apologized to victim for and country for letting them down, should have this held against him?

He/Canada will be punished and rightly so, but your reaction is way OTT in my opinion.

[Sir David Gray]

Actually, no, they don't. Most find ways of coping with defeat and disappointment without injuring any of the bystanders. The reason this incident has been getting the attention it has is because incidents like this are so rare.

So we now have his public repentance. Maybe he's sincere. Maybe he's just trying to influence the governing body to go easy on him. Words are cheap.

Competitors in sports have to get used to the fact that there'll be times when they lose matches they think they should be winning. There will be times when they'll feel really bad feelings. Public humiliation, even. That's just the way things go in competitive sports. There are days you win and days you lose, and when you lose you suck it up and get on with it. If you want to start throwing equipment around, you wait till you're back in the dressing-room. If you're a footballer and your team's going down 7-0 and the red mist descends and you go over the ball and right through one of the opposition, you'll see a red card. A rugby player losing it - sin bin or red card. It's life.

And if I had paid big money to attend the final day of a big Davis Cup tie and ended up with a shiner because one of the players I had paid to see threw a hissy and belted the ball full force into the stands, I would be much, much less than impressed.

I didn't mean, or say, that players injure people at nearly every single tournament, what I meant was that tennis players fire balls (and rackets in some cases) all over the place on a fairly regular basis, whenever they're frustrated about something. Most of them are fortunate in that the ball usually ends up landing somewhere harmless where no-one is hurt. On this occasion he misjudged where he was aiming and it obviously ending up hurting the umpire.

Obviously it goes without saying that time will tell if his words were genuine or if his apology was just a front to try and get off with a lighter punishment. Considering his very young age and apparent lack of maturity in being able to control his emotions, I would say that there's every reason to believe that he will learn from what happened and become a better person (and player) as a result.

One final point - your comparison with a football player going through an opponent because his team's getting humped isn't a fair one. That is a pre-meditated act to deliberately injure someone.

A better comparison would be if you're substituted and due to frustration at the way you've played, you pick up a water bottle lying at the side of the pitch and throw it in the direction of the dugout and it hits the fourth official.

Obviously you would expect that player to receive a hefty punishment but it was also obviously unintentional to injure the fourth official.

[Speedy]

I didn't mean, or say, that players injure people at nearly every single tournament, what I meant was that tennis players fire balls (and rackets in some cases) all over the place on a fairly regular basis, whenever they're frustrated about something. Most of them are fortunate in that the ball usually ends up landing somewhere harmless where no-one is hurt. On this occasion he misjudged where he was aiming and it obviously ending up hurting the umpire.

Obviously it goes without saying that time will tell if his words were genuine or if his apology was just a front to try and get off with a lighter punishment. Considering his very young age and apparent lack of maturity in being able to control his emotions, I would say that there's every reason to believe that he will learn from what happened and become a better person (and player) as a result.

One final point - your comparison with a football player going through an opponent because his team's getting humped isn't a fair one. That is a pre-meditated act to deliberately injure someone.

A better comparison would be if you're substituted and due to frustration at the way you've played, you pick up a water bottle lying at the side of the pitch and throw it in the direction of the dugout and it hits the fourth official.

Obviously you would expect that player to receive a hefty punishment but it was also obviously unintentional to injure the fourth official.

Agreed

[--------]

I apologise.

I forgot that the kid is the real victim here. :rolleyes:

[hibsbollah]

Just watched it. Ooft. If Nick Kyrgios had done that...

[HibernianJK]

Just watched it. Ooft. If Nick Kyrgios had done that...

You're right, but he has previous of attitude issues and bans.

[HibernianJK]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/38897801

No lasting damage to the referees eye. The guy sounds sincere enough for me.

[Sir David Gray]

I apologise.

I forgot that the kid is the real victim here. :rolleyes:

No-one's actually said that. :rolleyes:


Just watched it. Ooft. If Nick Kyrgios had done that...

The difference is, Nick Kyrgios has previous for unruly behaviour so he's going to be cut less slack than someone who's never been involved in any disciplinary matters before.

[blackpoolhibs]

I think it was a complete accident after a bit of petulance. Of course he should be punished, and he has, but for me it was a million to one chance that he hit the umpire in the eye.

I'm pretty sure he wont do it again, although if he does then of course he should be slaughtered.

He's a 17 year old who's made a bad decision under severe pressure representing his country.

I'd cut him a little slack here.

[GreenLake]

After day one, the teams were level at 1-1.

The doubles match is currently one set all and 5-5 in the third set.

No Andy Murray or Milos Raonic involved in this tie so it's very much a second string for both sides.

The winner plays France in the quarter finals.

Hopefully he is saving himself for a good crack at the 5th major.

[--------]

I think it was a complete accident after a bit of petulance. Of course he should be punished, and he has, but for me it was a million to one chance that he hit the umpire in the eye.

I'm pretty sure he wont do it again, although if he does then of course he should be slaughtered.

He's a 17 year old who's made a bad decision under severe pressure representing his country.

I'd cut him a little slack here.


Just noticed on BBC Sport that the umpire needed surgery for a fractured eye-socket ...

A bit more serious than 'a bit of petulance'. The guy should have been suspended.

There must be something really annoying about Kyle Edmund - his latest opponent, Adrian Mannarino, was punted out of the Delray Beach Open for smashing a ball out of court - this time without doing serious damage to anyone, thank goodness - at 6-3, 5-0, 15-0. He'd already kicked a chair and unsuccessfully aimed 'a bit of petulance' at a ball-boy.

Maybe he's counting on the same misplaced leniency that was shown to the Canadian?

Tennis needs to stamp on these people. Hard.