As a final backhand from No. 11 Sam Querrey’s racquet dropped into the net on Monday afternoon, #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov pointed at his left forearm and yelled “I’ve got ice in my veins!”
Just four days after saving match point in a third-set tie-break in his opener, the 18-year-old defeated Querrey 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 at the Miami Open presented by Itau to advance to the Round of 16 in his debut.
"It was a really tough match and I just fought for every point and I'm really happy to get the win," Shapovalov said. "Sam's such an incredible player, so it's a huge win for me."
A year ago this week, Shapovalov lost in the first round of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Leon, Mexico, beginning a streak of four consecutive losses at the Challenger level. He still was well outside of the Top 150 in the ATP Rankings.
But with the three-set triumph, the World No. 46 moves into the Round of 16 at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the second time, after breaking through at last year’s Rogers Cup with a magical run to the semi-finals. The left-hander will face a fellow 2017 Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier, BNP Paribas Open semi-finalist Borna Coric, who defeated American Jack Sock 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3. Coric held his nerve through a short rain delay at 5-3 in the final set, before returning to break Sock to close out the match.
Querrey, who made the quarter-finals at Indian Wells, broke early on in the deciding set, but Shapovalov immediately retrieved it. Then, the teenager fought off seven more break points in the set, while the American lost just three points in his next three service games. But while returning with a 6-5 lead, Shapovalov pounced on his first match-point opportunity to claim his fourth Top 20 win.
"I wasn't putting a lot of first serves in in the second and third set," Shapovalov said. "But I just kept fighting for every point and I'm extremely happy with the way I handled myself today."
Did You Know?
Shapovalov saved the final seven break points he faced in the third set before seizing his first match point.
