At 18, Shapovalov’s game, personality in the spotlight
NEW YORK » So, Denis Shapovalov, do tell: It can’t really be the case that 18-year-olds like yourself never get tired, right?
“No, it’s true. We don’t,” the Canadian joked Friday after becoming the youngest man to reach the U.S. Open’s fourth round since Michael Chang in 1989.
Shapovalov needed to go through three qualifying matches just to get into the main draw at Flushing Meadows, so he has played a halfdozen times in an 11-day span.
“It’s been a long ride,” said Shapovalov, who was born in Israel to Russian parents and moved when he was a baby to Canada. “It feels like I have been here a month already.”
There will be a first-time Grand Slam finalist at the U.S. Open now that 2014 champion Marin Cilic exited in the third round — and the entertaining-on-court, engaging-off-it Shapovalov is one of those who still have a shot at getting that far.
Just 2½ months after his runner-up finish at Wimbledon, the No. 5-seeded Cilic bowed out with 80 unforced errors in a 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-4 loss to No. 29 Diego Schwartzman of Argentina.
Not much later, Shapovalov advanced when Kyle Edmund of Britain stopped playing in the fourth set because of an injured neck.
“It’s never great to win this way,” Shapovalov said. “Hopefully, it’s nothing too serious.”
Neither he nor Schwartzman had ever been to a major’s fourth round before, nor had another of the afternoon’s winners, 35-year-old Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who actually began his Grand Slam career with an 0-13 record.
As it is, Cilic was the only owner of a major title on the entire bottom half of the draw when the tournament began.
“That’s right: A few surprises and lots of withdrawals,” Schwartzman noted. “This is the moment to take advantage.”
That part of the bracket originally included threetime Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, but he withdrew because of a hip injury, part of a depleted-atthe-outset field also missing Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic.
“It’s kind of a transition time for the ATP,” Shapovalov said, “but I think there is a lot of talent coming up.”
At the time of Cilic’s departure, the highest-seeded man remaining in that half was No. 10 John Isner, the top-ranked American man, who was scheduled to face No. 23 Mischa Zverev on Friday night.
Shapovalov is an up-andcoming player who won the Wimbledon junior title just last year. He made his Grand Slam main-draw debut there this July, losing in the first round, but has taken significant strides since.
At Montreal last month, he became the youngest man ever to reach the semifinals at a Masters event, and he grabbed attention this week by knocking off No. 8 seed JoWilfried Tsonga, a finalist at the 2008 Australian Open.
“The month of August,” Shapovalov said, “has been absolutely life-changing for me.”
He is a crowd-pleaser, someone who plays a fluid, aggressive game featuring a big lefty forehand and a onehanded backhand — and he shows plenty of emotion while he’s at it. He also plays wearing a baseball cap with its band tightened to an extreme degree, drawing plenty of attention on social media.
“I have a small head,” he said with a smile. “It’s just kind of become a little bit of my trademark.”
His next opponent is No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, a Spaniard who earned a spot in the U.S. Open’s fourth round for the first time by easily eliminating Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.