Nadal is next up for Shapovalov in third round of Italian Open

ROME — Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov’s breakout season on clay is about to face the ultimate test.

Shapovalov reached the third round of the Italian Open on Wednesday with a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Dutch veteran Robin Haase. Next up for the 19-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., is top seed Rafael Nadal, a master of the clay court.

Shapovalov posted his biggest win to date when he beat Nadal in three sets in the round of 16 at last year’s Canadian Open in Montreal. But that was on a hardcourt surface, not Nadal’s preferred clay.

Nadal improved to 15-1 this season — and 404-36 in his career — on clay with a 6-1, 6-0 rout of 31st-ranked Damir Dzumhur on Wednesday. His only defeat on the surface in 2018 was against Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals of last week’s Madrid Open.

Shapovalov is 7-4 on clay this year, including a run to the semifinals at Madrid. His only ATP-level experience on clay prior to this season was a firstround qualifying loss at the French Open.

He had to recover against Haase in the first set of Wednesday’s match after giving up a 5-2 lead. Shapovalov reasserted himself late and dictating the pace of the tiebreak.

After dropping a tightly contested second set, Shapovalov took control in the third. Haase didn’t help his cause with three double-faults in the final set.

Shapovalov, who will face Nadal today, finished with seven aces and converted three of 11 break point opportunities in a match that lasted two hours 26 minutes.

Earlier, Fabio Fognini got the Italian Open crowd fired up with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 win over sixthseeded Thiem.