Shapovalov moves into uncharted territory
After a physically draining and mentally straining marathon victory on Wednesday, Denis Shapovalov has reached the loftiest place in his career.
Now, the only thing standing in the way of him reaching the Wimbledon finals is knocking off world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who is on a determined quest to cement himself as perhaps the greatest player in tennis history.
It could be labelled Denis vs. Goliath.
On Wednesday Shapovalov knocked off Russia's Karen Khachanov 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, finding the necessary poise in the pivotal fifth set.
Later Wednesday, Montreal's Felix Auger-aliassime lost his bid to join Shapovalov in the semifinals. Italy's Matteo Berrettini used his powerful serve to pull away from Auger-aliassime in the 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 victory, where the 20-year-old Canadian experienced some bouts of nervousness.
Berrettini will now face Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, who delivered an upset by knocking off Wimbledon legend Roger Federer 6-3, 7-6, 6-0.
The key for Shapovalov was successfully keeping his focus as he rallied after falling behind against Khachanov.
As expected, the Canadian played more of a risk-reward game — producing more winners and unforced errors on both his forehand and backhand — than his Russian opponent.
Shapovalov cruised through the fourth set to even the match at two sets apiece.
The ultimate turning point came when he broke Khachanov 's serve during a nine-minute game with the fifth set tied 4-4. From there, he served out the match.
While the 22-year-old, seeded 10th at the tournament, has enjoyed some success at Wimbledon and the other three Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, the French Open and the U.S. Open — he has lost his composure in match-defining moments. Not so Wednesday against the 25th-seeded Khachanov.
“It was definitely super, super tough,” Shapovalov said later. “And having the craziest game of my life I think there (at 4-4 in the fifth set) ... being able to win that was massive.”
Shapovalov told reporters that he needed to pick up his game once the fourth set began.
“It's not the best situation you want to be in, but I just knew I had to elevate my game and change a little bit,” he said. “I started playing way more aggressively and taking my chances more because I felt like when I was just trying to keep the ball in play against Karen, it wasn't good enough.”