By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday May 21, 2021

Denis Shapovalov powered into his third ATP final with a 6-4, 7-5 triumph over Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas at the Gonet Geneva Open on Friday.



The Canadian, who improves to 2-10 lifetime in ATP semis, has tapped a reich vein of form in Geneva, just a week after squandering a match point in a thrilling round of 16 battle with Rafael Nadal at Rome.

“I definitely played at a really high level at Rome in all of my matches,” said Shapovalov. “Even though I didn’t get the win against Rafa, I was playing at his level and playing some really good tennis, so I just tried to take the positives from that match.”

Shapovalov improves to 7-4 on clay with the victory in 2021, and he’s pleased that he has started to trust his game on the surface.

Earlier in the spring he had talked about struggling to find the balance between aggression and patience, but now he seems to have relaxed into a nice groove.

“For sure I was a little bit confused out there,” he said. “But now I am just definitely feeling confident out there and just staying patient and just having fun with it.”

Shapovalov face Ruud for the first time on tour, though the pair know each other well from juniors. The Norwegian has been a tour de force on the surface this year, going 14-4 on the surface with semifinals at Monte-Carlo, Munich and Madrid. For his career, Ruud is 60-29 on the surface.

Ruud topped Pablo Andujar 6-3, 6-2 on Friday.

Both Ruud (1-1) and Shapovalov (1-1) are competing for their second ATP title.