Shapovalov will boost Canada
Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta put an end to 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov’s quixotic run at the U.S. Open with a 7-6(2) 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win on Sunday to punch his ticket to the quarter-finals.
Playing under a closed roof on a rainy day at Flushing Meadows, the 12th-seeded Carreno Busta showed more poise than the youngster during the match’s pivotal three tie breakers.
Shapovalov failed to capitalize on his opportunities during the closely fought match, converting just three of 13 break points while double faulting four times, including a momentum-killing one to start the final tie breaker.
The 26-year-old Carreno Busta was also the better player during the match’s long rallies, winning 17 of the 25 rallies of nine shots or more, often with help from one of Shapovalov’s 31 unforced errors.
Eighteen-year-old Denis Shapovalov wants his hockeyloving country of Canada to embrace tennis and hopes that after his star-making run at the U.S. Open, youngsters there will think twice before getting on the ice.
“My goal is to raise the level of Canadian tennis and have more kids picking up a racquet instead of a hockey stick,” he told reporters after his fourth round loss to Pablo Carreno Busta on Sunday.
“I think I have definitely helped to do that, and hopefully, you know, I can keep doing it.”
It has been a whirlwind last few weeks for Shapovalov, who electrified his home country when he made the semi-final at the Rogers Cup in Montreal in August, defeating world number one Rafa Nadal and former U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro along the way.