By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, November 10, 2020
Radu Albot scored one of the biggest wins of his career toppling top-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 rolling into his second quarterfinal of the season in Sofia.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve
Denis Shapovalov stepped onto Sofia Open center court soaking in an entirely new view.
It was the Canadian left-hander’s first ATP event as a top seed.
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The view at the top imposes a unique pressure. A shrewd Radu Albot realized his upset vision showing Shapovalov the door.
The 30-year-old Albot scored one of the biggest wins of his career toppling the top-seeded Shapovalov 6-2, 6-4 rolling into his second quarterfinal of the season.
After Shapovalov sailed a backhand beyond the baseline on match point, he unleashed angst from a frustrating day slamming his Yonex racquet to the court creating a contorted, mangled mess of its red rectangular head.
On this day, Shapovalov served poorly in the first set and couldn’t keep enough balls between the lines in the second set ending his season with a defeat that will cost him a shot at a season-ending Top 10 ranking.
The 12th-ranked Shapovalov served just 45 percent and though he kept fighting and exhorting himself, the Canadian gave away the final game with successive errors.
It wasn't all bad for Canada.
Vasek Pospisil won 28 of 31 first-serve points and did not drop serve fending off fourth-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-4.
The 30-year-old Canadian is into his third quarterfinal of the season where he will play either French qualifier Gilles Simon or sixth-seeded John Millman.
Albot saved both break points he faced—he hasn’t dropped serve in two tournament wins—advancing to his second quarterfinal in a month after making the last eight at Cologne-1 last month.
The Moldovan will meet either fifth-seeded Frenchman Adrian Mannarino or Egor Gerasimov as he plays for his first semifinal since the Los Cabos final four in August of 2019.
It’s been a tough stretch for Albot who has dropped from No. 39 about 15 months ago to his current rank of No. 93 after enduring an eight-match losing streak he snapped in the opening-round of Roland Garros.
That will make this upset even more satisfying as the 5’9” man from Moldova played a cleaner match from start to finish.
Shapovalov showed flashes of his shot-making prowess earning a break point in the third game, but Albot withstood the stress.
Three games later, Shapovalov lost the plot on serve.
A double fault skipping off the top of the tape put the left-hander in a double break point hole. Albot spun a return down the middle and Shapovalov slapped a forehand in net giving the world No. 93 the break and a 4-2 lead.
Albot saved a break point and poked a backhand pass to back up the break in the seventh game. Albot’s ability to improvise with the slice helped him carve out another break as his slice backhand drew a netted slice forehand from Shapovalov for double set point.
When the gangly Canadian sailed another forehand, Albot snatched his fourth straight game to seal the 36-minute opening set.
The 30-year-old Albot had the advantage of one match experience on the indoor hard court—he defeated Yuichi Sugita 6-4, 6-1 in his opener—and was reading Shapovalov’s serve and anticipating the direction of his opponent’s drives in the opening set.
Of course, it didn’t help the US Open quarterfinalist’s cause that he served just 39 percent compared to Albot’s 73 percent in the opener.
Two games into the second set, it seemed Albot might break the match open with two break points. Shapovalov summed a pair of stinging serves out wide to save both.
Shouting at himself to punctuate winners, Shapovalov showed athleticism soaring to tap back a smash that set up a brilliant drop volley to snap Albot’s five-game run for 1-all.
Despite sometime scattershot execution, credit Shapovalov for competing with energy. After that tight test in the second game, Shapovalov streaked through 12 of the next 14 points on serve leveling after eight games of the second set.
While he lacks one imposing weapon, Albot is a clever player with a good feel for shifting spins and angles into a disorienting cocktail. Dragging his opponent off the doubles alley, Albot blocked a forehand dropper holding at love for 5-4.
Scoreboard pressure—and Albot’s ability to bend low passes that danced near the shoelaces put Shapovalov in a bind as he botched a volley and missed a forehand to face match point.
Albot closed an impressive victory in one hour, 15 minutes improving to 7-11 on the season. Shapovalov finishes 2020 at 17-15, including inspired runs in New York where he played his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open and Rome where he reached the semifinals.
Certainly, Shapovalov has made strides working with coach Mikahil Youzhny. Today’s match shows he still has to sharpen up his net play and find a rally gear and play to larger targets on court on days like today when his crackling forehand is a little bit off circuit. Still, the best is yet to come for the 21-year-old shotmaker.
Earlier, 19-year-old Jannik Sinner converted five of 18 break points defeating Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-4 in 96 minutes.
Empowered by his run to the Roland Garros quarterfinals, the 44th-ranked Sinner will face Swiss lucky loser Marc-Andrea Huesler for a quarterfinal spot.
Richard Gasquet won 22 of 27 first-serve points stopping Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-4. Gasquet will play 399th-ranked wild card Jonas Forejtek, who upset Marin Cilic, in the round of 16.
"I watched his (Forerick) game against Cilic," Gasquet said. "Cilic is a really good player, so he had nothing to lose. I know he plays juniors and has a Grand Slam title.
"I watched him yesterday and he performed very solidly. I'm looking forward to a tough fight. He's very young, he's got nothing to lose."