It’s been quite the summer for Denis Shapovalov. At the start of June, the Canadian was just inside the Top 200 of the Emirates ATP Rankings and starting his grass-court campaign at ATP Challenger Tour events in Surbiton and Nottingham. Fast forward three months and the 18 year old has been one of the stars of the North American hard-court swing, capturing the hearts of fans with his blockbuster game and engaging personality. After a rollercoaster ride that saw him win the Gatineau Challenger, reach the semi-finals at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 in Montreal and become the darling of New York with his run through qualies to make the fourth round, it was to rapturous applause that Shapovalov...
Pablo Carreno Busta advanced to his second Grand Slam quarter-final on Sunday in New York as he ended Denis Shapovalov’s dream run with a 7-6(2), 7-6(4), 7-6(3) victory in the US Open fourth round. Carreno Busta is the fifth different Spaniard to reach the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows in the past five years - joining Rafael Nadal, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer and Tommy Robredo – and goes on to face either Lucas Pouille or Diego Schwartzman. Speaking to Darren Cahill in his on-court interview, Carreno Busta said, “It’s amazing. It was the first time I played singles on this court. Arthur Ashe is unbelievable. I cannot describe it. I tried to fight all the time, every point. You never know...
An opportunity awaits for the eight players remaining in the bottom half of the draw. For the first time since 2014 at the US Open a first-time Grand Slam finalist is guaranteed. Three years ago first-time finalists met in the championship as Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori. In the fourth round of the bottom half of the draw, the highest-seeded players are No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 16 Lucas Pouille, No. 17 Sam Querrey, No. 23 Mischa Zverev, No. 28 Kevin Anderson, and No. 29 Diego Schwartzman. Only Anderson (2015) and Pouille (last year) have reached the quarter-finals in Flushing Meadows. UnseededPaolo Lorenzi and #NextGenATP qualifier Denis Shapovalov are also left. In the opening match on Arthur Ashe Stadium,...
The Cinderella run for #NextGenATP star Denis Shapovalov continues. Competing in just his sixth tour-level main draw, the Canadian teen advanced to the Round of 16 at the US Open on Friday. Shapovalov is the youngest player to reach the US Open fourth round since Michael Chang in 1989 and youngest in a Grand Slam Round of 16 since Marat Safin at Roland Garros in 1998. He will seek his first major quarter-final when he faces Pablo Carreno Busta next, after advancing when Kyle Edmund retired due to injury at 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0. Semi-finalist at the Coupe Rogers just three weeks ago, behind victories over Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin del Potro, the 18 year old is thriving once...
Six weeks. That is all that has separated Denis Shapovalov from being a rising #NextGenATP prospect with a promising future to one of the biggest threats at the 2017 US Open, on the brink of a Top 50 breakthrough. Shapovalov's ascent in the months of July and August is nothing short of astonishing and incomprehensible. At the 14th position in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan on 17 July, the Canadian had an outside chance of qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals. But, on the heels of a second ATP Challenger Tour title on home soil in Gatineau, semi-final finish at the Coupe Rogers and run to the US Open third round as a qualifier, he has catapulted as...