Shapovalov gets back on track
NEW YORK • Canadian seventh seed Denis Shapovalov breezed past Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in a battle of the lefthanders in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
The win ended Shapovalov’s four-match losing streak which began after his quarter-final victory over Karen Khachanov at Wimbledon.
Another Canadian, Vasek Pospisil, eliminated Italy’s Fabio Fognini on Tuesday with a come-from-behind victory. The 28th-seeded Italian was up two sets before Pospisil took the match 2-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in three hours 17 minutes.
❚ German Alexander Zverev got his bid for a maiden major off to a smooth start by beating American Sam Querrey 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.
Querrey kept the match close through the first two sets, but was stymied by unforced errors as 2020 runner-up Zverev kept his game comparatively clean and fired off 25 winners.
The world No. 4 went in for the kill in the third set, and with the fifth game secured a double-break lead with the momentum squarely in his favour, never facing a break point himself during the entire match.
In an opening round showdown between two six-foot-six power servers, Zverev’s consistency proved critical as he won 90 per cent of his first-serve points compared with 70 per cent for Querrey, who fended off three match points in the seventh game, but nonetheless was defeated in a brisk one hour and 40 minutes.
Zverev, who was two points away from winning a year ago when Dominic Thiem rallied to victory, is among the younger cohort hoping to upset world No. 1 Novak Djokovic’s bid for a calendar year Grand Slam.
Djokovic won his opening match Tuesday night 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-1 over Denmark’s Holger Rune.
Zverev said Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas and Russian Daniil Medvedev, who lost to Djokovic in the French and Australian Open finals respectively, were two of the potential challengers to the world No. 1, though he was quick to remind reporters of his own win over Djokovic in the Tokyo semifinals, en route to Olympic gold.
“I was the first person to beat him on a hard court or grass court this season, and I was also the only person to beat him at a very, very big event this year,” he said.
“I hope I can keep the level up and maybe even play better, because to beat Novak here is going to be an extremely difficult task.”
The win extended Zverev’s unbeaten streak to 12, after he walked away with the Western and Southern Open title in August.
“I hope in two weeks’ time I’ll be on an 18-match winning streak,” he told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
He faces Albert Ramos-vinolas of Spain in the second round.
❚ World No. 1 Ash Barty had to sweat for a 6-1, 7-6 (7) win over Vera Zvonareva and a spot in the second round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.
The top-seeded Australian came out firing on all cylinders and raced to a 3-0 lead in a rapid-fire opening set that was over in 24 minutes.
But what looked to be a straightforward afternoon for Barty turned tense in a grinding second set that the 36-year-old Zvonareva forced to a tiebreak before falling 9-7.
Barty has won five tournaments this season, including a second career Grand Slam at Wimbledon and her U.S. Open tune-up in Cincinnati.
❚ World No. 4 Karolina Pliskova fired off eight aces to defeat American wild card Caty Mcnally 6-3, 6-4 in the first round as she bids for an elusive maiden major.
Pliskova, the 2016 runner-up, built a 5-1 lead in the first set before her 19-yearold opponent settled her nerves and hit 10 winners in the set compared to two from Mcnally, before breaking the American’s serve twice early in the second.
“I started really well, then lost my focus a little bit at the end of the first set,” said Pliskova, who lost to world Barty in the Wimbledon final earlier this year.
“She played (at) a really good level,” she added. “She has a good future.”
❚ Belinda Bencic, playing with a new-found sense of freedom after winning a gold medal in the singles competition at the Tokyo Olympics, breezed past Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-4 to reach the second round. Bencic, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2019 and sat out last year’s tournament amid the COVID-19 outbreak, used a solid service game to improve to 3-0 all-time against the left-handed Rus.
Asked what pleased her most about the win, Bencic, who didn’t face a break point during the 90-minute match, replied “Definitely my serve.”
To see how Canada’s Bianca Andreescu did in her scheduled Tuesday night match, go to
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