One year ago this week, #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov was in the midst of a seven-match losing streak on the ATP Challenger Tour. But on Sunday, the World No. 42 won his debut at the Mutua Madrid Open, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, ousting American Tennys Sandgren 6-1, 6-4 in 54 minutes.
At this time last year, Shapovalov had just two tour-level victories in his young career. His win against Sandgren, the World No. 51, is his 24th since. He will next face No. 15 seed Lucas Pouille or another Frenchman, Benoit Paire.
Speaking of Frenchmen, Richard Gasquet entered his first-round match in Madrid having lost six of his past seven FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against No. 14 seed Tomas Berdych, with all of those battles coming since 2015. But you wouldn't have known by the way the Frenchman performed at the Caja Mágica, ousting the Czech 6-4, 6-2 in 76 minutes.
The Monte-Carlo quarter-finalist showed his good form, avenging a loss he suffered at the same tournament against Berdych three years ago. Berdych still leads their series 9-8, including victories in five of their nine matchups at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events. Gasquet will next face recent Marseille champion Karen Khachanov or a qualifier.
Did You Know?
Denis Shapovalov is now 2-3 in tour-level clay-court matches in his career. His win against Tennys Sandgren is his first triumph on the ATP World Tour, with the other victory coming in Davis Cup competition.