Shapovalov into third round at Rogers Cup

Denis Shapovalov didn’t hide his disappointment when he saw that his Wednesday afternoon match against Fabio Fognini had been moved from centre court to the grand stand.

Turns out the switch actually benefited him in the end.

Buoyed by an enthusiastic crowd on the smaller venue, Shapovalov advanced to the third round of the Rogers Cup by defeating the 14th-seeded Italian 63, 7-5 in a match that was delayed for hours and interrupted in the first set by heavy rains.

“I know how many friends wanted to come out today and how many fans were looking forward to seeing me on centre court this week,” said Shapovalov, who grew up in nearby Richmond Hill, Ont. “Unfortunately with the rain delay it got moved to the grand stand. It was a little disappointing in that sense. But the crowd on the grand stand, I think they helped me a lot because it was so ecstatic, it was so energetic because it’s so compact and it actually bothered Fognini quite a bit, especially toward the end. So it really worked in my favour. I really enjoyed myself out there.”

Shapovalov fired nine aces and won 82 per cent of his service games in a match that, minus delays, lasted just one hour 22 minutes.

Shapovalov will face Robin Haase of the Netherlands in the third round today.

Fellow Canadian Milos Raonic, meanwhile, saw his tournament end with a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-1 loss to No. 41 Frances Tiafoe of the United States in a match that was also delayed and interrupted by heavy rain that wreaked havoc on the day from the outset.

Top seed Rafael Nadal of Spain opened the evening session on centre court with a 6-2, 6-3 win over France’s Benoit Paire. Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, competing on his 18th birthday, followed with a three-set loss to Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.

Auger-Aliassime was coming off the biggest win of his career, downing No. 18 Lucas Pouille of France in straight sets on centre court on Tuesday. It was just the second Masters 1000 win for the 133rdranked Auger-Aliassime.

Medvedev won 3-6, 64, 7-6 (9).

Toronto’s Daniel Nestor — the oldest player at the tournament at 45 — and Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil lost to Feliciano and Marc Lopez 6-7 (8), 6-2, 10-6.