Canadian teenager advances to the fourth round
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 half-dozen 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 firsttime 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 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 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-yearold Paolo Lorenzi of Italy, who 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 three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, but he withdrew because of a hip injury, part of a field depleted at the outset that was 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.”
His next opponent is No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, the highest-seeded man remaining in that half. The Spaniard 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. Carreno Busta will be the first man at any Grand Slam tournament in the Open era, which began in 1968, to face four qualifiers.
No. 17 seed Sam Querrey is the only American man left after beating Radu Albot of Moldova in four sets. He will face No. 23 Mischa Zverev, who eliminated 10thseeded John Isner 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (5) on Friday night.
On the women’s side, Maria Sharapova continued her impressive play with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Sofia Kenin.
Sharapova, given a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association into her first Grand Slam tournament since a 15month doping ban, has played all three matches on the main court.
“With regards to scheduling, as you know, I don’t make the schedule,” Sharapova said. “I’m a pretty big competitor. If you put me out in a parking lot of Queens in New York City, I’m happy to play there.”
The women’s winners’ list Friday also included No. 3 Garbiñe Muguruza and No. 13 Petra Kvitova, a pair of Wimbledon champions who will meet in the fourth round.
Also advancing were Venus Williams and Sloane Stephens, who is coming back from left foot surgery in January and is back in the fourth round in New York for the first time since 2013.