Raonic defeats Shapovalov to even career series

CINCINNATI — Milos Raonic gained a measure of revenge against Denis Shapovalov on Thursday at the Western & 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 on a break and set up a quarter-final matchup with the winner of a match between Novak Djokovic and defending champion Grigor Dimitrov.

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

It was a different story on the hard court in Cincinnati, and Raonic used his preferred surface to his advantage. The 27year-old from 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 first-set 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 to be too much in the end, holding serve to go up 5-4 before putting Shapovalov away with a break in a match that took one hour and 42 minutes.

The match was originally scheduled as the morning showcase on centre court but was moved to a small side court after a rain delay of over four hours. They played just three points before the wet weather returned, causing another delay of about half an hour.

Shapovalov’s win in May ended Raonic’s eight-year reign as Canadian No. 1. Raonic, a former world No. 3, reclaimed the top domestic spot this week after holding at No. 29 in the ATP World Rankings while Shapovalov slipped to No. 32.