By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 22, 2020
Gilles Simon upset third-seeded Denis Shapovalov 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to reach his second quarterfinal of the season in Cologne.
Photo credit: Bett1Hulks Facebook
Gilles Simon met a dirty demise in his last meeting with Denis Shapovalov.
Today, Simon struck clean combinations to stop Shapovalov in the rematch.
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Simon broke three times in the final set scoring a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 upset to reach his second quarterfinal of the season in Cologne.
The 35-year-old Frenchman avenged a French Open first-round loss to Shapovalov last month.
Coming off semifinals in Rome and St. Petersburg, the third-seeded Shapovalov was his own worst enemy at times serving 50 percent and committing 13 double faults. Simon converted seven of 13 break-point chances to score his biggest win, in terms of ranking, since he toppled world No. 5 Daniil Medvedev en route to the Marseille semifinals earlier this season.
Simon scored his 491st career victory and will face Italian wild card Jannik Sinner for a semifinal spot.
The 19-year-old Sinner scalded French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-1.
Empowered by his run to the Roland Garros quarterfinals earlier this month, Sinner is through to his third quarterfinal of the year.
The talented teenager broke serve six times and surged out to a 5-0 second-set lead before closing in 76 minutes.
Roland Garros semifinalist Diego Schwartzman outclassed German lucky loser Oscar Otte 6-3, 6-2 to cruise into his sixth quarterfinal of the season.
Aiming to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in London next month, the ninth-ranked Argentine has reached four consecutive quarterfinals.
Schwartzman sealed the opening set at love on the strength of some heavy forehands through the middle of the court.
While the 5’7” Schwartzman doesn’t cast a shadow over the tallest trees on the ATP Tour, he’s a clean ball striker who can crunch his forehand to all corners. Schwartzman slashed a series of forehands breaking the lucky loser twice in a row to start the second set on a 4-0 surge.
Schwartzman raised his record to 21-10 on the season setting up a quarterfinal vs. Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.