Denis Shapovalov hopes in a couple of years from now he can start talking “about Top 20, Top 10” in the ATP Rankings. The #NextGenATP Canadian may have to drastically shorten that timeframe if his week at the Mutua Madrid Open is anything to go by.
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Zverev vs Shapovalov | Thiem vs Anderson
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The 19-year-old’s only prior clay-court victory before Madrid was over World No. 181 Viktor Galovic in a Davis Cup rubber in February this year. After a 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4 victory against Kyle Edmund on Friday – a match in which he recovered after letting match point slip in the second set – Shapovalov stood as the youngest semi-finalist in the Mutua Madrid Open’s history.
“It's not really expectations of myself, but just confidence within myself, that I can compete on this surface, that I can play on it,” Shapovalov said. “I mean, last year I didn't win one single match on clay. So going in this year, I didn't have any expectations or confidence at all.
“After a week like this, it definitely shows myself that I'm capable, more than capable, of playing against these guys and winning matches on this surface.”
It seems fitting his next opponent would be the man who ended his breakthrough run to an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final at last year’s Rogers Cup, Alexander Zverev. Regardless of the outcome, Shapovalov is already assured of breaking into the Top 30.
Should he exact revenge on the No. 2 seed he would replace Milos Raonic as the top-ranked Canadian. Beating Zverev, however, is a tall order.
The German is through to his third straight Masters 1000 semi-final and has now reached five Masters 1000 semi-finals in the past year, more than any other player.
Coming off a successful title defence in Munich last week (d. Kohschreiber), Zverev has been on song on serve in the Spanish capital. He has faced one break point all week – in his third-round victory over Leonardo Mayer. In the quarter-finals he avenged a defeat from the final of the Miami Open presented by Itau, to beat John Isner 6-4, 7-5.
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A resurgent Dominic Thiem continues his bid for a maiden Masters 1000 title on Friday when he meets sixth seed Kevin Anderson in the second men’s singles semi-final. Fifth seed Thiem, playing just his third tournament back since a right ankle fracture suffered at Indian Wells, made an emphatic statement when he ended Rafael Nadal’s 21-match, 50-set winning streak on clay on Friday.
The 7-5, 6-3 victory snapped the Spaniard’s latest six-week reign at No. 1 in the ATP Rankings. It was a vast improvement on a resounding defeat to Nadal in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals only three weeks ago.
“I think I was playing a little bit better today than in Monte-Carlo,” Thiem said. “Of course, it's great conditions here for me in Madrid. I love to play here. I mean, there is a reason why I made my first Masters 1000 final here last year.
“But at the same time, of course, I had to really increase my level compared to Monte-Carlo to beat Rafa here. He's in a really great form. He won 21 matches on clay and 50 sets. This is amazing.”
Anderson, a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 winner over first-time Masters 1000 quarter-finalist Dusan Lajovic on Friday, holds a perfect 6-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record over the Austrian, although this will be their first meeting on clay. It was a case of 11th time lucky for the South African as he powered through to his first Masters 1000 semi-final, having fallen in 10 prior quarter-finals at this level.
Did You Know?
Dominic Thiem is one of only three players to have beaten Rafael Nadal three times on clay. The others are Novak Djokovic (seven times) and Gaston Gaudio (three times).
