Canada's Denis Shapovalov fined £5,600 for hitting umpire in face with ball during tie with GB

Updated 06/02/2017 at 17:34 GMT

Canada’s Denis Shapovalov has been fined £5,600 after he hit an umpire in the face with a tennis ball during the Davis Cup match with Great Britain, resulting in him being defaulted from the decisive rubber.

Denis Shapovalov

Image credit: Reuters

The 17-year-old was 6-3 6-4 2-1 down to Kyle Edmund and smashed a ball in anger after losing his serve, only for it to hit umpire Arnaud Gabas in the eye.

Shapovalov avoided the maximum fine of £8,000 as the incident was not deemed intentional, however the ITF could still take further action.

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Vasek Pospisil beat Dan Evans to set up a deciding rubber on Sunday, only for match referee Brian Earley to end the final rubber after the incident, which handed Great Britain a 3-2 victory.

Shapovalov said he felt "incredibly ashamed and embarrassed" after the incident and vowed to learn from it.

Kyle Edmund of Great Britain pumps his fist during his singles match against Denis Shapovalov of Canada on day three of the Davis Cup World Group tie between Great Britain and Canada at TD Place Arena on February 5, 2017 in Ottawa

Image credit: AFP

"I just feel awful for letting my team down, for letting my country down, for acting in a way that I would never want to act," he said.

"I can promise that's the last time I will do anything like that. I'm going to learn from this and try to move past it."

Great Britain will now face France in April in the quarter-finals.

Davis Cup