By Chris Oddo | Wednesday August 30, 2017
Canada’s Denis Shapovalov advanced into the third round of the U.S. Open for the first time on Wednesday night after a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The 18-year-old sensation controlled the run of play over the course of the two hour and 11-minute contest and only once did he let nerves get the best of him.
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It was yet another coming out party for the young Canadian who came to Montreal in early August with three career wins and has done nothing but produce electrifying tennis since.
Shapovalov was broken while serving for the match in the third set but quickly rebounded to finish off the No.8-seeded Frenchman to continue the rapid ascension that has seen him go from relative unknown to the toast of Canadian tennis in the last month.
Shapovalov earned his first Top 10 win (against Rafael Nadal) in early August at the Coupe Rogers and went on to become the youngest semifinalist in ATP Masters 1000 history in Montreal.
After earning his spot in the U.S. Open main draw by winning three qualifying matches last week, The 18-year-old son of Russian parents who moved to Canada before his first birthday has picked up where he left off. He became the youngest player to reach the U.S Open’s third round since Donald Young in 2007, and given his current form he could go a lot further in a beaten-up quarter of the draw that features only one other Top 10 player.
After the match he was asked how he was able to come out and earn such a routine win on the sport’s biggest stage.
“I don't think that win was any bit routine,” he answered. “I played unbelievable today, very high level. Yeah, I don't know why, but I just managed to stay loose and go for my shots the whole match, except a little bit at 5-3 or 5-4, serving for the third set. Got a little bit tight, stopped moving my feet on a couple shots, sailed some forehands.”
Shapovalov may be young, and he only has nine ATP wins to his name at this nascent stage of his career, but his confidence is soaring right now.
“I think every win that I've been going through, it's been securing anyone's doubts or even my own doubts, whether or not I belong. I belong with these guys, playing these high-level tournaments,” he said. “So this win, it's definitely another confidence boost. It shows that Montreal wasn't a fluke week. To do it back-to-back, it's not easy. I've had to go through qualifying, which is also stacked with super tough players.”
Shapovalov plays uninhibited, swashbuckling tennis with a high degree a difficulty, but somehow pulls it off without taking on too much risk. His left-handed serve is a big weapon that pulls righties off the court and he used it at will against Tsonga’s two-handed backhand to control the court.
“I knew being a lefty would help me,” he said. “Obviously I could take it more with the out-wide serve. It's my forehand to his backhand.”
For all his aggression, Shapovalov managed to keep the stat sheet rather tidy. He struck 28 winners against just 19 unforced errors and broke Tsonga’s serve three times on five opportunities.
It’s not every night that tennis fans see an 18-year-old kid with one Grand Slam victory to his name demolish a proven veteran and former Grand Slam finalist with 115 major wins, but that is precisely what happened.
Tsonga never had a chance in the match. Shapovalov, who doesn’t turn 19 until next April, is starting to look like one of those rare players who can do things that nobody else in his age group can.
It’s not normal, particularly in an era of tennis that has been characterized by the domination of older players and the unprecedented success of those that are 30 and older.
Perhaps this is the moment where the bubble bursts and the trend snaps back in the other direction. Perhaps the kids are finally coming in men’s tennis.
Maybe not all of them, but certainly this one.
Shapovalov looks like he is ready to do what many players several years older than him could never find a way to do.
But he’s not getting ahead of himself. He was asked to give his thoughts about his wide open section of the draw, and he hit all the right notes with his answer.
“Maybe for a guy like Zverev or Federer, you could say it's open a bit. For a guy like me, every match is tough and I'm going to have to battle it out,” he said, adding: “There's no easy matches here.”