Canada’s Shapovalov ousted in straight sets at Citi Open
WASHINGTON — Canadian Denis Shapovalov was ousted in straight sets 7-6 (1), 6-3 by Japan’s Kei Nishikori in the third round of the Citi Open tennis tournament on Thursday.
Shapovalov, seeded ninth in Washington, struggled with inconsistency in the first set, managing to get in just 43 per cent of his first serves but winning 68 per cent of them. He also notched four aces and three double faults.
The teenager from Richmond Hill, Ont., lost the set in a tiebreaker to the seventhseeded Nishikori.
Shapovalov’s struggles continued in the second frame as he could only land 47 per cent of his first serves and was broken by Nishikori twice.
Shapovalov, who is ranked 26th in the world, finished with seven aces, six double faults and didn’t manage a single break point.
The match was pushed to late Thursday after Rock Creek Park Tennis Center dealt with prolonged rain delays.
Earlier, Alexander Zverev beat older brother Mischa 6-3, 7-5 to reach the Citi Open quarterfinals on Thursday in their first ATP main-draw match against each other.
Alexander, 21, is seeded No. 1 and the defending champion at the hard-court tuneup for the U.S. Open. Mischa, who turns 31 in a few weeks, was seeded No. 15. They had met twice before in qualifying matches, most recently in 2014, but never during the real rounds of a tournament.
“It was just fun,” Mischa said. “That’s all I can say.”
A weary-looking John Isner was broken twice in the opening set during a 6-4, 7-6 (6) loss to 152nd-ranked Noah Rubin in the second round. The No. 2-seeded Isner credited Rubin with having more energy.
Rubin, whose right sneaker fell apart during a point in the second set, was scheduled to play his third-round match late Thursday against 16th seed Andrey Rublev.
Alex de Minaur eliminated No. 11 Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-5, and No. 10 Stefanos Tsisipas beat James Duckworth 6-3, 6-4.
In the women’s draw, Nao Hibino withdrew before her match against No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic because of an injured abdominal muscle. Two-time major champion Svetlana Kuznetsova won, as did No. 7 seed Donna Vekic, who edged Fanny Stollar 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (13).