Raonic wins rematch with Shapovalov

CINCINNATI Milos Raonic gained a measure of revenge against Denis Shapovalov on Thursday at the Western and Southern Open, beating the teenager 7-6 (6), 6-4 in a matchup of Canada’s top male tennis players.

Raonic won the third-round match on his first match point opportunity when the big-serving veteran showed a little finesse at the net, feathering a shot past Shapovalov to win the match on a break and advance to the quarterfinals.

It was the second head-to-head meeting between Raonic and Shapovalov. The first came in May on a clay court in the Madrid Open, with Shapovalov winning 6-4, 6-4.

It was a different story on the hard court and Raonic used his preferred surface to his advantage. The 27-year-old form Thornhill, Ont., had 12 aces to just two for Shapovalov. Raonic won 75 per cent of his service points and had seven break-point opportunities, converting two.

Shapovalov, the 19-year-old rising star from Richmond Hill, Ont., had a chance to take control of the match’s momentum when he was serving for set point in the firstset tiebreak. But he missed on two consecutive serves and Raonic converted on his first set point.

Raonic looked like he was going to cruise through the second set after getting an early break and going up 3-0. But Shapovalov converted his only break opportunity of the match to make it 4-3, then tied the set in his next service game.

The veteran Raonic proved too much in the end, holding serve to go up 5-4 before putting Shapovalov away with a break.

Both Canadians looked impressive in their first two wins at the Masters 1000 tournament. Shapovalov opened with a threeset victory over American wildcard Frances Tiafoe before topping Britain’s Kyle Edmund.

Raonic, 27, didn’t drop a set in wins over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic and Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri.