Shapovalov shoots up rankings with win Gallant, Maurice finally getting their big breaks
ROME — Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov pulled off another big win, overcoming a slow start to beat 15th-seeded Tomas Berdych 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in the first round of the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Also on the red clay of the Foro Italico, three-time Rome champion Maria Sharapova defeated 16th-seeded Ashleigh Barty 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, defending champion Elina Svitolina routed Petra Martic 6-1, 6-2, and defending French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko eliminated Zhang Shuai 6-2, 7-5.
The 19-year-old Shapovalov is coming off a semifinal appearance in last week’s Madrid Open, where he beat fellow Canadian Milos Raonic in the Round of 16.
Already up to a careerhigh ranking of 29th this week, the victory over Berdych will move Shapovalov ahead of No. 22 Raonic when next week’s rankings come out — making him the top Canadian.
“It’s something I’ve wanted to work towards for all my life,” Shapovalov said. “So, to be able to do that, it’s pretty crazy. Hopefully I could lead the country to a Davis Cup victory one day.”
Shapovalov is already the youngest player in the top 30 since Richard Gasquest reached No. 17 in 2005 at the age of 19.
Showing off his crafty game, Shapovalov made an audacious foray to the net to conclude one point with an overhead smash as he ran out to a 4-0 lead in the decisive tiebreaker.
Berdych came back to make it 5-5, but the left-handed Shapovalov then drew his opponent into the net and unleashed a wicked one-handed backhand passing shot down the line.
On his first match point, Shapovalov wrong-footed Berdych with another shot down the line that his opponent couldn’t get back.
The risk-taking Shapovalov committed twice as many unforced errors as Berdych but also hit more than three times as many winners.
“I just couldn’t find my footing the first set. The clay is so different here,” said Shapovalov, who is making his Rome debut. “But I just kept fighting, kept competing. And I’m really happy I got to turn the match around.”
On a day in which the start of play was delayed and then interrupted by rain, ninth-seeded David Goffin struggled to beat Italian wild card Marco Cecchinato 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 before a partisan crowd; 14th-seeded Diego Schwartzman eliminated Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 6-1; and 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille held off Italian wild card Andreas Seppi, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3)
Greek qualifier Stefanos Tsitsipas, who reached the final of the Barcelona Open last month, advanced when Borna Coric retired while trailing 4-1.
In the women’s tournament, 11th-seeded Angelique Kerber defeated Kazakh qualifier Zarina Diyas 6-2, 7-6 (6), and 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina beat Australian qualifier Ajla Tomljanovic 6-0, 6-4.
Gerard Gallant and Paul Maurice do not know each other well despite having their NHL coaching careers overlap for several years.
The men behind the benches for the Golden Knights and Jets, though, have led their teams into the Western Conference final after following long, winding paths.
“It’s quite a story for both of them,” Hall of Fame coach Scotty Bowman said in a telephone interview.
Gallant was fired by the Panthers with a winning record just 21 games into the 2016-17 season, leaving him to catch a cab outside the arena in Raleigh, N.C., after his belongings were unloaded from the bus.
Maurice was fired by the Hurricanes twice. The second time was after just 25 games of the 2011-12 season.
They will match wits Wednesday night in Game 3 when the Golden Knights hope home ice gives it an advantage in the deadlocked series.
Gallant was relieved of his duties with the Panthers, a season after being a finalist for coach of the year, because of philosophical differences between analytics-minded management and the old-school coach.
“He was left on the curb,” Golden Knights forward James Neal said.
Vegas center Jonathan Marchessault was on the bus when news broke that the Panthers had fired their coach.
“It was kind of out nowhere,” he recalled.
And it worked out very well for Gallant and a team that also came out of nowhere. of The coach discarded by the Panthers has led a collection of castoffs to a stunningly successful expansion season.
“It’s a perfect Marchessault said.
If the straight-shooting coach can help the Knights win three more games, he’ll join Bowman as the only coaches to lead a first-year expansion team to the Stanley Cup final. Bowman did it 50 years ago with the Blues, and the Hall of Famer is rooting for Gallant.
“It’s a nice story because he deserved a better fate in Florida,” Bowman said. “People felt bad for him the way it happened in Carolina.”
Gallant won a careerhigh 51 games this season, his seventh in the league.
Likewise, Maurice had his best season with what he said has been his best team. He won a career-high 52 games in his 20th year as an NHL coach. He’s three wins away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final for a second time. In 2002, the Bowman-led Red Wings beat the Hurricanes and hoisted the Cup.
Maurice broke into the league as a coach in 1995 with the Whalers, who moved to Raleigh two years later. After he was fired the first time by the franchise, he lasted just two seasons and was 10 games over .500 in a pressure-cooker job with the Leafs.
The Jets hired him to lead its franchise with 35 games left in the 2013-14 season. Their patience paid off with a breakout performance this season. AP fit,”