Shapovalov rallies to reach second round
Canadian picks up steam as match progresses, upsets 64th-ranked Dutra Silva
Canadian Denis Shapovalov advances Grinds out win in the first round of men’s Rogers Cup in Montreal.
MONTREAL— Canadian Denis Shapovalov advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup on Tuesday after rallying to defeat Brazil’s Rogerio Dutra Silva 4-6, 7-6(8), 6-4.
The 143rd-ranked Shapovalov got better as the match progressed, needing two hours 26 minutes to upset the 64th-ranked Dutra Silva.
On triple match point, Shapovalov fired a serve that handcuffed Dutra Silva. The 18-year-old dropped his racket and threw his arms in the air as the centre court crowd at Uniprix Stadium erupted in cheers.
Shapovalov’s victory looked unlikely after he was broken twice in the 41-minute first set. The Richmond Hill native’s service game was his undoing to start the match.
Shapovalov’s first serve regularly clocked in at more than 200 km/h, but it lacked the accuracy to be effective. The Canadian had an abysmal first-serve success rate of 40 per cent in the opening set.
But as Shapovalov’s serve improved, so did the youngster’s confidence.
The turning point for Shapovalov, who was granted a wild-card spot in the tournament, came in the secondset tiebreak. Down 3-1, the Canadian fired back-to-back aces to even the set.
Shapovalov survived four match points in that tiebreak. Leading 9-8, Dutra Silva double faulted to give Shapovalov the second-set victory.
In the third set, Shapovalov fired four aces, with his first-serve success rate having increased to a respectable 60 per cent.
He broke Dutra Silva to take a 4-3 lead in the set and never looked back.
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 Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro, ranked No. 31, in the second round.
Earlier in the afternoon, South Korea’s Hyeon Chung upset Feliciano Lopez, of Spain, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(3).
Chung, ranked No. 56 in the world, took advantage of several mistakes made by the 28th-ranked Lopez, including eight double faults, to win the two-hour 16-minute match.
Lopez is now 10-12 in his career at the Rogers Cup.
The opening match on centre court at Uniprix Stadium was supposed to feature 10th-ranked Tomas Berdych, but he pulled out with a rib injury. Berdych’s withdrawal ended a streak of 12 consecutive appearances in Canada for the Czech player.
“I am sorry I have to apologize (to) all my Montreal fans,” Berdych tweeted.
“I couldn’t play, because of my rib disfunction (sic) I need to get well to go to office soon!!”
No. 85 Ernesto Escobedo took his spot and upset 63rd-ranked Nikoloz Basilashvili in straight sets 7-6(4), 6-4.
Borna Coric easily defeated Mikhail Youzhny 6-2, 6-4 to set up a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the sec- ond round.
Italy’s Paolo Lorenzo downed American Frances Tiafoe 7-6(3), 0-6, 6-2. American Sam Querrey avoided an upset, rallying to beat qualifier Vincent Millot, of France, 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5.
Milos Raonic from Thornhill was initially scheduled to play his opening match on Tuesday, but a minor injury forced him to postpone it to Wednesday. He faces France’s Adrian Mannarino.