Britain was defaulted into the Davis Cup quarter-finals, while Spain edged Croatia to advance and defending champion Argentina battled Italy into a decisive fifth match at a rain-hit tie. Canada's Denis Shapovalov hit chair umpire Arnaud Gabas in the face with a ball and was defaulted in the deciding match, handing Britain's Kyle Edmund a 6-3, 6-4, 2-1 triumph and giving Britain a 3-2 victory in the first-round tie at Ottawa on Sunday.
Shapovalov, a 17-year-old Israeli-born Canadian, apologized to Gabas in the referee's office as the umpire was being treated for bruising and swelling of his left eye before being taken to a nearby hospital. “No one is nicer or carries themselves better for a 17 -year-old than Shapovalov,” Canadian teammate Vasek Pospisil tweeted. “Everyone can see that today was an accident.” Britain, the 2015 champions playing without Andy Murray, advanced to a quarter-final match up on April 7-9 against France.
