Following D.C. default, Denis Shapovalov retains points, prize money after appeal

The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) released a statement on Monday confirming that Denis Shapovalov would retain the points and prize money earned from his week at the Mubadala Citi DC Open despite a default in the quarterfinals.

“The fines committee has affirmed that officials followed correct procedures in defaulting the player,” the statement reads in part. “However, the committee has concluded that loss of rankings points and prize money, which is automatically applied in the case of a default, would be a disproportionate penalty in this case.”

Down match point in a second-set tiebreaker against American Ben Shelton, the former world No. 10 was heard swearing at a spectator; after being issued a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct, the tournament supervisor was called to court and the decision was made to default Shapovalov, trailing 7-6 (5), 6-6 (6-3).

The decision is nearly identical to a similar incident that took place during the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in February, when Andrey Rublev was defaulted in the third set of his semifinal against Alexander Bublik. On appeal, Rublev was permitted to keep his points and prize money that corresponded to his semifinal finish.

Like Rublev, Shapovalov was ultimately fined $36,400 applied for the code violation, but the ability to retain his ranking points allowed him to move 30 spots up in the rankings to No. 106.

Shapovalov is yet to comment publicly on either the default or the subsequent appeal.