Harsh lesson for Shapovalov
Just two years ago he was the Wimbledon boys champion. Now he’s the boyman who watched a deeper Wimbledon dig disappear into the might-have-been ether.
Denis Shapovalov will learn from that. There’s more wisdom attained in the losing than the winning.
The 19-year-old from Richmond Hill, among the most hot-young-things in the tennis universe — his blond good looks gracing multiple magazine covers, star ascending — stubbed his toe in the second round of the tournament on Thursday, falling in a fourth-set tiebreaker to Frenchman Benoit Paire.
A match where the teenager, clear crowd favourite at the All-England Club, came out blazing, clobbering Paire 6-love in the opening set. Then stumbled as Paire collected himself, prevailing 6-2, 6-4, 7-6(3).
Somewhere, the dynamist Shapovalov had asserted vanished. And nobody is as mystified by that as Shapovalov.
“I had all the momentum after the first set and I blew that,” Shapovalov, seeded No. 26, told reporters afterwards.
Not to take anything away from Paire, who played defence superbly in blunting his always aggressive opponent. But probably too aggressive, rushing and missing too many returns with big swings that Paire handled with cool aplomb. Quick points, quick games in an encounter that was completed in two hours and 12 minutes.
Too many first serves missed by Shapovalov as well — only 54 per cent of them in.
The kid just couldn’t sustain the level of tennis he’d brought onto Court 3.
“It’s probably the big key of it,” Shapovalov agreed. “I have to look over the match again and just do some brainstorming, find out why this kind of thing keeps happening.
“It was the same story in the French Open. I had a lot of momentum going my way and then all of a sudden it just slipped away from me.’’
Shapovalov had difficulty getting on top of the unseeded Paire’s serve — nine aces — and only 34 per cent of receiving points won.
But the day truly turned on a crucial set point that could have delivered the fourth frame to Shapovalov. Instead he missed the break chance, Paire dodging the bullet with a perfect lob to the baseline, Shapovalov banging his racket in dismay. Paire held serve, forcing a tiebreak wherein Shapovalov failed to convert a pair of minibreaks after gifted with a double fault. Paire, defeated by the Canadian earlier this year, made hasty work of it after that.
“It’s about sustaining that momentum,” Shapovalov reiterated. “That’s what the top players do so well, like Roger and Rafa. When they’re in the lead they play even better and it’s even tougher to play against them.
“It’s the second time where I have let it slip in the last two Slams. It was close, especially in the fourth set, it was a couple of points. Could have gone my way. But I’ll get through it.”
The lefty turned the tennis world on its ear last year, breaking into the top 50 — youngest to do so since Rafael Nadal in 2004 — and soaring to a No. 23 ranking. He’s currently ranked No. 25 and was bidding to reach the third round for the first time at his second Wimbledon, building on the round of 16 achievement from the U.S. Open last summer.
It’s been wall-to-wall tennis ever since and perhaps that’s starting to wear on a young man not yet 20 years old. Hasn’t been home since April. Time for a little rest and search-searching, he said.
“First I’m going to go visit Toronto, see my parents … see my dogs. Just regroup a little bit.’’ Maybe soak up some sun in the Bahamas. “Just chill out.” Good idea, dude. His elimination at SW19 left No. 13 seed Milos Raonic, from Thornhill, as the lone Canadian alive in singles play. He has a Friday third-round date with Dennis Novak of Austria.
Second round and done for Canadian compatriot Genie Bouchard, halted in her tracks, four-match winning streak (including qualifiers) over, ousted 6-4, 7-5 by No. 17 seed Ashleigh Barty of Australia.
The 24-year-old from Westmount, Que., is a long way removed from her splashy ingenue days when she reached the Wimbledon women’s final in 2014, as well as the semis of French Open and Australian Open.
She remains a media magnet though. No press conference in the big media room afterwards. Yet 17 journalists crammed into a small room to collect Bouchard’s thoughts afterwards. Which seemed to take her aback too. “Well, it’s nice to see you all. I think we should have been in a bigger room. This is kinda weird. If you guys care about me, then that’s cool.”
It should be noted that Bouchard is coming off an abdominal injury that caused her to miss two months on tour before the French Open.
Bouchard led 5-2 in the second set against Barty but, as has become her pattern when opportunities yawn open, fumbled.
Asked later where she is in her tennis arc now, Bouchard responded defensively: “It’s the middle of my career. I don’t know how to define it. It’s definitely not the end of my career like some people think. I’m here to stay, like it or not.”