Teenager triumphs against ‘idol’ turned rival del Potro
Ontario’s Shapovalov youngest to reach third round of Canadian event since 1982
MONTREAL Denis Shapovalov had a chance to meet one of his idols Wednesday, and he made some history along the way.
The 18-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup.
“Like I said yesterday, he’s my idol,” Shapovalov said. “First of all, just to play against him, it’s a huge honour for me. But to beat a player of this category, of this talent, it’s very inspiring for me — a huge confidence boost.”
The win lifted Shapovalov into rarefied company. He’s the youngest player to reach the third round of this event since Mats Wilander in 1982. And he’s the youngest player to reach the final 16 of an ATP Masters 1000 event since Rafael Nadal in Miami in 2004.
There’s a certain synchronicity in that stat because Shapovalov’s next opponent is the winner of a Wednesday night match between the top-seeded Nadal and Croatian Borna Coric.
Shapovalov showed poise beyond his years. When del Potro broke his serve to take a 2-0 lead in the second set, Shapovalov broke right back.
The Canadian broke del Potro to take a 6-5 lead and was serving for the match in the second set, but he double-faulted and played some loose points to send the set to a tiebreaker. He fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker, but reeled off five consecutive points for a 6-3 lead.
On his first match point, he double-faulted, but didn’t allow that to upset him.
“It was just bad luck,” he said. “I hit the tape twice and both serves went out. I told myself for the next point, just put a little bit more spin on the serve, make sure you get the first serve in. I was hoping for a shorter return, which I got.”
Peter Polansky wasn’t as fortunate in a match against one of his idols. Second-seeded Roger Federer needed only 53 minutes to beat the 29-year-old Torontonian 6-2, 6-1.
“He plays very quickly,” Polansky said. “I like to develop the points, but he plays so quick and that threw me off a little. You can’t adjust for just one match. Maybe if I was exposed a little more to playing at the higher levels, I’d be more comfortable. Going from playing players ranked 50 to 150 and then going against Federer, it’s different.
“His transition from the baseline to the net, it’s a joke,” Polansky added.” You blink and he’s at the net. You hit balls pretty hard at him and he’s handling them like it’s no problem. Guys I’m used to playing, if I hit really hard, they’ll kind of block it, but he’s constantly moving forward like a freight train.”
Polansky, ranked No. 116 in the world after some strong results in Challenger events, upset No. 75 Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver in the first round on Monday.
It was his second meeting with Federer. At the 2014 Rogers Cup, he lost 6-2, 6-0.
Meanwhile, a wrist injury had Canada’s top-ranked player, sixthseeded Milos Raonic, badly off his game as he fell 6-4, 6-4 to Adrian Mannarino of France. The heavyserving Raonic did not get an ace until 4-4 in the second set, but lost his serve in the same game.