A POWER FAILURE
Energetic Shapovalov falls in five sets to Anderson, and the Open is worse for his loss
Oh my, such an exciting and excitable boy. Check that, a 19-year-old man. And a roman candle in tennis, exploding a cascade of colour. A star. Denis Shapovalov did not win his third-round match against Kevin Anderson at the U.S. Open on Friday night. But he came this close in a breathtaking five-set barnburner.
When the disappointment recedes, the pride of Richmond Hill can take solace in this: He extended the lanky South African, a finalist at Flushing Meadows a year ago, a finalist at Wimbledon six weeks ago, ranked No. 5 in the world, to the very edge of extinction.
The capacity crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium, so full-throated in the Canadian’s corner, could not get enough of it, or him — the passion and exuberance he brings to the sport.
One day Shapovalov will learn, perhaps, to harness that oomph just a tiny bit more; that it’s not necessary and can be tactically counterproductive to go for winners all the time, when crafting a point with patience would be more effective.
But then he wouldn’t be Shapo. He wouldn’t exhilarate.
He wouldn’t, even in a losing cause, have struck for 59 winners, nearly doubling his opponent.
In the end, after three hours and forty-three minutes, it was Anderson who prevailed over the 28th seed, summoning the experience of a 32-year-old who was exceedingly late to blossom, and pulling out his signature weapon in the dying moments — a pair of aces, coupled with an unreturnable serve. Although, in fact, Shapovalov out-aced him 13-11 in the match.
What Shapovalov couldn’t do, fatefully, was convert the break points he worked so hard to orchestrate — he was 2-for-9 — while Anderson pounced at crucial junctures on the breaks he glimpsed — 3-for-7 — as Shapovalov’s service games occasionally dipped into erratic.
In that deciding fifth frame, after Shapovalov had fought back with grit and flamboyance to draw even in sets at 2-2, he found himself broken early in the taut third game, coming a-cropper with a forehand into the net. Yet Anderson, a rather robotic baseliner who rarely ventures to the net, the power serve his bread and butter, still didn’t look in command.
Shapovalov had a chance to break right back on Anderson’s second serve but unwisely opted to go power-for-power, and that chance slipped away after they were thrice knotted at deuce.
In the sixth game, Shapovalov again had Anderson teetering on a break point despite an out line call overturned by the chair umpire — the teenager threw down his racquet in exasperation — but the sixfoot-eight South African came up with some clutch tennis, fending off the threat.
“It was clearly good,” said Shapovalov of the disputed shot (and as replay confirmed). “It’s unfortunate that that happened, but it’s a sport. Obviously it’s bad luck that it happened on such a big point, such a big situation.
“I’m not going to blame the whole match for it. It’s one point.”
Flashes of brilliance were mixed in with ill-timed loose shots by Shapovalov.
Gamely, with the crowd at his back, the lefty fought off four match points in the ninth game, recovering from 0-40 to hold serve, with an exclamation point ace, and it was 5-4 with the match on Anderson’s racquet.
And then bang-bang-bang, Anderson held Shapovalov to love on his dominant serve, moving into the round of 16 with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
Along with round of 16 fellow traveller, Milos Raonic, from Thornhill, who polished off Stan Wawrinka in straight sets, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 6-3.
It was only Shapovalov’s fourth career five-setter as a pro, his second in a week.
“Yeah, another crazy match for me,” Shapovalov said afterward. “I mean, it’s a couple of points here and there. I had a lot of chances to break back, wasn’t able to do it today. He served big when he needed to, played unbelievably big.”
A year ago, Shapovalov made it into the round of 16 at this, the final major of the season. This year, he hasn’t got past the third round at any of the four Grand Slams. But he doesn’t consider that record a setback.
“To be honest, my goal this season was to improve my game — and I feel like I’ve come back here, from last year, I feel like such a different play- er. I just feel like I belong out there.”
Hell of an entertainer, that Shapo, especially in the fourth set when he brought the audience to its feet, fist-pumping and helicoptering his arms to the crowd, urging them to stand up, celebrating exceptional points off his leaping forehands and ferocious backhands.
His mother and coach, Tessa, was maybe not quite so entertained, gripping the family’s teeny amulet, a plush wolf toy. Storm is the thing’s name, picked up in a Brisbane airport shop. “When it comes down to business, when I’m hunting, when I’m on the court, I’m pretty fierce, intense. I show my teeth,” Shapovalov said earlier this week. “I’m very emotional, similar to a wolf.”
Shapovalov came out wolfishly aggressive, taking the first set while showing off his free- swinging shot-making style, early into a groove. He recognized quickly that Anderson was vulnerable at the net and not particular agile. When Anderson winced reaching for a passing shot and grabbed his left thigh, he seemed to have hurt himself, requiring an off-court medical break after that first set. Shapovalov couldn’t take advantage, though, afflicted by too many errors — 42 unforced errors in the match, as it turned out, compared to 32 for Anderson.
Returning from that medical break, Anderson gathered his wits and strengths about him, going up two sets to one. But the Canadian found his own second wind too in the fourth set, blunting Anderson’s big serves for the 10th game break and set. Thrilling tennis until the final few minutes.
With Shapovalov gone, so is a lot of the thrill at Flushing Meadows.