Idol Idled
Shapovalov takes out his hero del Potro while Raonic is sent packing
MONTREAL — Denis Shapovalov had a chance to meet one of his idols Wednesday and he made some history along the way.
The 18-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., defeated 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina 6-3, 7-6 (4) to reach the round of 16 at the Rogers Cup Canadian Open men’s tennis championships.
“Like I said yesterday, he’s my idol,” Shapovalov said. “First of all, just to play against him, it’s a huge honour for me. But to beat a player of this category, of this talent, it’s very inspiring for me — a huge confidence boost.”
The win lifted Shapovalov into some rarefied company. He’s the youngest player to reach the third round of this event since Mats Wilander in 1982. And he’s the youngest player to reach the final 16 of an ATP Masters 1000 event since Rafael Nadal in Miami in 2004.
There’s a certain synchronicity in that stat because Shapovalov’s next opponent is the winner of a Wednesday night match between the top-seeded Nadal and Croatian Borna Coric.
Shapovalov showed poise beyond his years. When del Potro broke his serve to take a 2-0 lead in the second set, Shapovalov broke right back.
The Canadian broke del Potro to take a 6-5 lead and was serving for the match in the second set, but he had a double-fault and played some loose points to send the set to a tiebreaker. He fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker, but reeled off five consecutive points for a 6-3 lead.
On his first match point, he double-faulted, but he didn’t allow the point to upset him.
“It was just bad luck,” Shapovalov said. “I hit the tape twice and both serves went out. I told myself for the next point, just put a little bit more spin on the serve, make sure you get the first serve in. I was hoping for a shorter return, which I got.”
Peter Polansky wasn’t as fortunate in a match against one of his idols. Second-seeded Roger Federer needed only 53 minutes to beat the 29-yearold Torontonian 6-2, 6-1.
“He plays very quickly,” Polansky said. “I like to develop the points, but he plays so quick and that threw me off a little. You can’t adjust for just one match. Maybe if I was exposed a little more to playing at the higher levels, I’d be more comfortable. Going from playing players ranked 50 to 150 and then going against Federer, it’s different.
“His transition from the baseline to the net, it’s a joke,” Polansky said. “You blink and he’s at the net. You hit balls pretty hard at him and he’s handling them likes it’s no problem. Guys I’m used to playing, if I hit really hard, they’ll kind of block it, but he’s constantly moving forward like a freight train.”
Polansky said he’s not a bad tennis player, but he’s also not in the same league as Federer.
“Even though I lost, this is one of the most memorable experiences of my life along with the match I played against him in Toronto,” said Polansky, who won only two games when they played at the 2014 Rogers Cup.
“I felt I wasn’t getting up with my legs, but he was also putting pressure on me,” Polansky said. “He was standing on the baseline and maybe I thought I had to put some pressure on him and I tried to do too much.”
Three seeded players lost in the afternoon. South African Kevin Anderson defeated 11th-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 7-6 (6); Gael Monfils outlasted No. 5 Kei Nishikori 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (6) and David Ferrer will meet Federer after beating 15th-seeded Jack Sock 7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-1.
A wrist injury had Canada’s top-ranked player, sixthseeded Milos Raonic, badly off his game as he fell 6-4, 6-4 to Adrian Mannarino of France. The heavy-serving Raonic, also from Thornhill, did not get an ace until 4-4 in the second set, but lost his serve in the same game.