Shapovalov into second round
Canadian Denis Shapovalov admits the epic tiebreak that propelled him into the second round of the Rogers Cup is still “a little bit of a blur.”
The 143rd-ranked Shapovalov survived four match points in a second-set tiebreak on his way to a 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4 victory over the 64thranked Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil in the opening round on Tuesday.
“I don’t remember all of them, honestly,” said Shapovalov, who was granted a wild-card spot in the tournament. “I wasn’t holding back. I just told myself, ‘He’s got to win it from me. I’m not going to give it to him.’
“I think I did a good job to stay tough out there.”
After dropping the opening set, Shapovalov’s margin for error was slim.
The Richmond Hill, Ont., native’s comeback looked unlikely when he quickly fell behind 3-0 in the second-set tiebreak. He fired back-toback aces to give himself a fighting chance.
Down 6-4 — the first match point — Dutra Silva made an unforced error. Now 6-5, Shapovalov hit a clever drop shot just out of his opponent’s reach. On the third match point, Dutra Silva sent his backhand long. Down 8-7, Shapovalov hit his sixth ace of the set to fend off elimination for the fourth time.
With the Canadian now in front 9-8, Dutra Silva double faulted to give Shapovalov the second-set victory.
“I’m sure he felt the crowd getting on him,” said Shapovalov. “After every match point I saved, they went pretty crazy. It adds to the nerve for the other guy. They were so alive, so intense.”
In the third set, Shapovalov fired four aces. He broke Dutra Silva to take a 4-3 lead in the set and never looked back.
On triple match point, Shapovalov fired a serve that handcuffed Dutra Silva. The 18-yearold dropped his racket and threw his arms in the air as the centre court crowd at Uniprix Stadium erupted in cheers.
“Obviously after the breaker, I felt the momentum was shifting towards my way,” said Shapovalov. “I thought if I could get an early break, it would help me. I think I played really good tennis in the third set.”
It’s the second straight year that Shapovalov has advanced into the tournament’s second round after beating Nick Kyrgios during his opening match in 2016 in Toronto.
The win is Shapovalov’s first on hard court this year (1-3). It’s also just his second victory on the ATP world tour in 2017.
He’ll now face Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, ranked No. 31, in the second round.
“He’s one of my idols,” said Shapovalov of del Potro. “Growing up I saw him win the U.S. Open. So it’s going to be an extremely tough match. But I live for these moments. I live to be in these matches. I think it’s going to be a great battle.”
In the final match of the day, third-seeded Dominic Thiem was upset in the second round by Diego Schwartzman. Schwartzman took it 64. 6-7, 7-5 in a match that needed two hours 55 minutes. Thiem is the highest-ranked player at the tournament to be eliminated so far.
In doubles, Canadians Vasek Pospisil and Daniel Nestor lost 4-6, 6-4, 10-2 to Spaniards David Ferrer and Roberto Bautista Agut.
Milos Raonic from Thornhill, Ont., was initially scheduled to play his opening match on Tuesday but a minor injury forced him to postpone it to today. He faces France’s Adrian Mannarino.