Seventh seed Denis Shapovalov dished up Grand Slam revenge and a shot-making masterclass against Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena to book a third-round berth at the US Open on Thursday night.
In his fifth US Open, the Canadian advanced 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-0 in two hours and seven minutes to secure a showdown with unseeded South African Lloyd Harris. He notched 50 winners to his opponent’s 13, including nine aces, and won 85 per cent of first-serve points.
“It was definitely a tough match-up. Having played him at Roland Garros… I knew it was going to be very difficult,” Shapovalov said. “I feel super happy with myself to get away with it in straight sets. It could have been a very, very long match.”
Carballes Baena sprung the upset in the pair’s only prior ATP Head2Head encounter – 8-6 in the fifth set of a five-hour thriller at Roland Garros last year. The No. 95 in the FedEx ATP Rankings set about a repeat of that boilover on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Thursday night when he held two set points at 6/4 in the opening-set tie-break.
Half of Shapovalov’s six double faults for the set came in the tie-break, but he was handed a lifeline when the Spaniard missed a forehand pass from mid-court on the first set point. It was the only reprieve Shapovalov needed as he eked out the first set after 65 minutes and dropped just three games more.
“I came into the match confidently knowing I’ve improved so much since last year and I feel like a completely different player in terms of my game and in terms of mentally, what I’ve been through the last year or so,” Shapovalov said. “Definitely, was more confident on the court.
“Especially when I felt a little bit of nerves and tense here and there… I knew I would have a lot of moments to kind of get rid of it. I just kept fighting. It was a little bit more experience. I was a little bit calmer. I’m just very happy with the way I was able to fight today.”
In July, the Canadian reached his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon, where he defeated Andy Murray, Roberto Bautista Agut and Karen Khachanov en route. Since his deep run at the All England Club, the 22-year-old – who reached the quarter-finals in New York before a five-set defeat to Pablo Carreno Busta last year – had struggled on hard courts.
But after opening defeats to Frances Tiafoe on home soil in Toronto and to Benoit Paire in Cincinnati, he snapped a four-match losing streak and posted his first win as a Top 10 player against Federico Delbonis in the first round at Flushing Meadows. It was a city and an atmosphere in which he felt right at home.
“I think in general New York is a city I’ve always felt loved in,” Shapovalov said. “I always feel great every year I come back here. Of course, with making quarter-finals here last year, and the semi-finals run at Wimbledon, I kind of know how to prepare myself a little bit more, I’m more comfortable leading into these big tournaments.”
Source Tennis – ATP World Tour
