Shapovalov surges into Madrid semis

MADRID Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is off to the semifinals at the Madrid Open.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., beat Britain’s Kyle Edmund 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-4 on Friday.

Shapovalov, 19, knocked off fellow Canadian Milos Raonic on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals. Ranked 43rd in the world, Shapovalov recorded a second straight upset against No. 22 Edmund, who reached the semifinals at this year’s Australian Open.

“It’s interesting. I feel like we have a really, really similar game style,” said Shapovalov. “We both go big on the serves, we both love to dictate with the forehands.

“It’s tricky to play Kyle. When he’s on, I’m not seeing the ball at all. He’s slapping winners left and right. It’s tough to play a player like this.”

Shapovalov will face No. 2 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany today.

Regardless of the outcome, the Canadian teen will break into the top 30 of the ATP world ranking.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal has found a worthy rival on clay. Dominic Thiem beat the top-ranked Nadal 7-5, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, breaking the defending champion’s run of 21 straight wins on clay courts.

Nadal hadn’t lost a single set on clay since falling to Thiem a year ago in the Italian Open.

But Thiem succeeded in doing the nearly impossible with his deep drives. Nadal will lose his world No. 1 ranking to Roger Federer because of that loss.

“Of course, I am disappointed,” he said.

Thiem will face sixth-seeded Kevin Anderson.

On the women’s side, Kiki Bertens beat seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the final.

Bertens will face two-time former Madrid champion Petra Kvitova, who beat Karolina Pliskova 7-6 (4), 6-3, for the title.