Germany’s Maximilian Marterer caused an upset at Roland Garros on Thursday in an all-lefty match against #NextGenATP Canadian star Denis Shapovalov, the 2017 ATP Most Improved Player of the Year.
Shapovalov led by a set and 3-0, but Marterer fought back to triumph 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-4 for a place in the third round of a Grand Slam championship for the second time (also 2018 Australian Open).
Shapovalov, the No. 24 seed, who like Marterer had been making his Roland Garros debut this year, struck 14 winners and lost just one of his first service points in the 45-minute opener. Although he won the first three games, the 19-year-old he was forced to save three break points. He ended his 31st match of the year (18-13 record) with 82 unforced errors.
“I went up a set and a break, feeling good, [but then] I let him back into the match a little bit,” said Shapovalov. “After that, I was struggling a little bit with my serve. I could have served much better. But aside from that, I feel like that was the only real difference between us today. We both played really well off the ground. He's playing really good tennis, especially in the big points today. Credit to him, if he keeps playing like this, I'm sure he can go far.”
World No. 70 Marterer, who reached this month’s BMW Open by FWU semi-finals (l. to Kohlschreiber), tightened up his serve and waited for the error — breaking twice in the second set, then in the final games of the third and fourth sets — for the second Top 30 win of his career.
“The plan was to serve well and be tough in my service games, so that he didn’t get too many chances to break," said Marterer. "That was key today. He plays with a really heavy, heavy forehand, so I tried to keep [the ball] a little on his backhand. I think I managed [the plan] really well after losing first set, especially. It was good that I could raise the quality of my return, so he also had some problems in his service games after this.”
Marterer will next challenge Estornian lucky loser Jurgen Zopp, who recovered from two sets down to beat Ruben Bemelmans of Belgium 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 35 minutes.
Shapovalov reached his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to A. Zverev), after winning the first tour-level clay-court match of his career earlier in the week.
Just more than a month ago, No. 7 seed Dominic Thiem lost to #NextGenATP Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in 80 minutes at Barcelona. At the time, it was the Austrian’s third loss of the season on clay in which he won five games or less, a shocker for one of the best clay-court players in the world.
But the two-time Roland Garros semi-finalist got his revenge against Tsitsipas on Thursday. Despite the match getting suspended Wednesday evening after taking a two-sets-to-one lead, Thiem finished off the Greek 6-2, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the third round for the seventh consecutive Grand Slam.
“It was a very good match,” said Thiem. “The key was, for sure, that I went home yesterday with a one-set lead. It was really important. The first set today was very, very good tennis from me. I was very focused.”
Thiem will next face Italian Matteo Berrettini, who has won his first two Grand Slam main draw matches this year on the Parisian terre battue. The World No. 96 has played just one match against a Top 10 opponent, a loss earlier this month against Alexander Zverev. This will be his first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Thiem.
Lucas Pouille also completed victory in a second-round match carried over from Wednesday. The No. 15 seed, who led two sets to one overnight, delighted French supporters on Philippe-Chatrier Court when he defeated Cameron Norrie of Great Britain 6-2, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3) in two hours and 43 minutes. He will now prepare to meet Russia’s Karen Khachanov.