Shapovalov exits against Austrian veteran Thiem
Defending champion Nadal defeats U.K.’s Evans in rain-delayed match
MONTREAL Dominic Thiem ended years of frustration at the Rogers Cup and then apologized that his first Canadian win in six tries had to come at the expense of Canadian Denis Shapovalov.
“I finally won a match here but I’m sorry it had to come against Denis, who’s a good guy and a good player,” Thiem said after beating the 20-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Thiem, the No. 3 seed from Austria, took control of the match with a service break to go ahead 5-3 in the third set.
After Shapovalov double-faulted to give Thiem a break point, he tried to catch Thiem off guard with a drop shot. Thiem reached the short ball and put up a lob. Shapovalov stretched to get his racquet on the ball but hit his overhead into the net.
“It’s never easy, the smashes,” said Thiem, cutting Shapovalov some slack. “Maybe it was a little bit windy. Already the lights were on. These kind of smashes, especially in a tough situation where you’re under lot of pressure, they look way easier than they are. Of course, for me it was great that he missed so I got the break.”
“I just missed it,” said Shapovalov. Shapovalov, who came into this tournament after losing in the first round of his four previous tournaments, was hoping to regain the magic of his performance here two years ago when he beat Rafael Nadal en route to the semifinals.
He said he was happy with his play despite the loss.
“I really enjoyed my two matches on court, even losing today,” said Shapovalov. “It was a lot of fun to kind of go out there, play against a great player like Dominic, really put it to the test, see what damage I can do. I think if a couple of shots had went my way, I could have definitely won the match. It’s obviously a little tough to swallow. But like I said, it’s something that I can really look at in a positive way.”
Nadal, the defending champion and No. 1 seed, opened the proceedings on centre court and he saved two set points in a tiebreaker and went on to defeat Daniel Evans of Britain 7-6 (6), 6-4.
Nadal lost his serve in the opening game but broke Evans in the sixth game and had a 6-5 lead when rain halted play for 28 minutes.
When play resumed, Evans held serve to force the tiebreaker and held two set points at 6-4. Nadal saved one with a forehand winner and Evans squandered his second chance when he hit a short return off Nadal’s serve. That resulted in an easy forehand winner for the Spaniard who ran out the next two points for the set.
Nadal said his experience helped him get through the tiebreaker.
“It was an important moment, of course, that end of the first set. I played a great point at 6-4 to be 6-5 and two good serves and I finally achieved the set.”
Nadal broke Evans to start the second set and took a 2-0 lead before the heavens opened again and there was another delay of nearly two hours.
Evans broke Nadal to pull even at 3-3 but Nadal broke back in the next game to regain the advantage.
Evans had to qualify to earn a spot in the main draw but Nadal said he wasn’t surprised that the 29-year-old put up a strong fight.
“All the matches are difficult here,” said Nadal. “We are talking about a Masters 1000. All the players in the draw here are dangerous for everyone. Daniel is a player that combines an aggressive game with good hands. He’s able to read the game very well, so he knows how to play tennis in terms of tactics. So this was an important victory for me, no?
“It was a tough first set,” added Nadal. “Then in the second, I was able to take advantage at the beginning, but then he broke me back and it important that I was able to break back in the next game.”
Nadal was playing his first match since losing to Roger Federer in the semifinals at Wimbledon and he said was happy to pass his first test on a hard court.
“It’s just the first day,” said Nadal. “It’s always tough, the first match on hard court after such a long time.”
The win was Nadal’s 378th in ATP Masters 1000 play and that ties him with Federer for the most wins in the series.
He can take the top spot Thursday with a win over unseeded Guido Pella of Argentina in the round of 16. Pella, who upset 15th-seeded David Goffin of Belgium in the first round, advanced Wednesday with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 win over Radu Albot of Moldova.