Shapovalov eyes big future after bowing out

US OPEN: Young Canadian star vows to return to New York to ‘do some damage’

Denis Shapovalov vowed to return to New York and “do some damage” after his US Open adventure ended in a fourth-round defeat by Pablo Carreno Busta.

The 18-year-old Canadian has been hailed as the future of tennis and compared to a young John McEnroe – including by the man himself – during his run at Flushing Meadows.

It is hard to see Shapovalov as anything other than a future grand slam champion given his armoury of exciting weapons and competitor’s mentality.

But he will have to wait a little longer after 12th seed Carreno Busta, the highest-ranked man left in the bottom half of the draw, battled to a 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3) victory last night.

The impact Shapovalov has made was demonstrated by the fact this was his third match in a row in Arthur Ashe Stadium, a privilege usually reserved for slam champions rather than teenage qualifiers.

Before leaving the court, Shapovalov put down his bags and thanked the crowd and, asked afterwards for his favourite memory of the tournament, he said: “Honestly, I think it was the roar of the crowd when I put my bags down and I went to applaud them.

“They were all screaming. It was so loud, and it was a great moment for me. It really has a special place in my heart now, New York. Hopefully I can come back here for many more years and just try to do some damage.”

At a time when men’s tennis is having to contemplate life after Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, the emergence of Shapovalov could not be more opportune.

The teenager hopes his success will encourage Canadian youngsters to pick up “a racket instead of a hockey stick”.

Carreno Busta admitted he had not heard of Shapovalov until last month, when he defeated Nadal on his way to the semi-finals of the Masters tournament in Montreal.

The Spaniard, who next meets either Lucas Pouille or Diego Schwartzman, said: “In Montreal I watched him playing against Rafa, and he played an unbelievable match.

“He’s playing with a lot of confidence and he’s very young so in the future, he will be one of the best.”

Nadal survived another battle against lucky loser Leonardo Mayer on Saturday night.

The Argentinian took the opening set on a tie-break and it was not until Nadal finally converted his 14th break point to lead 4-3 in the second that the Spaniard turned on the style.

Nadal won 16 of the final 21 games to clinch a 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-1 6-4 victory and a place in the last 16, where he will take on Alexandr Dolgopolov.

Roger Federer got his campaign back on track with a comfortable win over Feliciano Lopez.

After being taken to five sets in his opening two matches, Federer only needed an hour and 46 minutes to march on 6-3 6-3 7-5.

The third seed’s movement was much improved and he made far fewer unforced errors as he set up a last-16 clash with Philipp Kohlschreiber.