The dream lives. #NextGenATP Denis Shapovalov continued the run of his life on Friday night, overcoming a slow and nervy start to advance to the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. The 18-year-old Canadian beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Central, where Shapovalov has earned legions of supporters this week at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. He first knocked off Juan Martin del Potro, then World No. 2 Rafael Nadal in the third round, and Mannarino was the latest established ATP veteran to go down against the spirited left-hander, who's fiery play has created an electric atmosphere on the main court. “I’ve been against the wall a couple times this week. I'm very happy...
Roger Federer remains on course to lift his 27th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title and put pressure on Rafael Nadal in the two-man battle to replace Andy Murray at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. Bidding to capture his first trophy in Montreal – and his third overall in Canada – Federer produced a spellbinding blend of power and finesse to outclass No. 12 seed Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 6-4 in 68 minutes on Friday afternoon at the Coupe Rogers. It was his seventh straight win over the Spaniard and Federer is now 34-2 on the season, which includes an ATP World Tour-high five titles. “It pays off playing aggressively here in Montreal, plus I feel comfortable at...
Robin Haase dared to dream and delivered on Friday when he booked a spot in the Coupe Rogers semi-finals, his first at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. Haase extended his perfect record to 5-0 against Argentinean Diego Schwartzman in a hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 quarter-final victory over two hours and four minutes. "I'm really happy," said Haase. "I played a lot of good matches, especially yesterday against [Grigor] Dimitrov. It's tough to come back and play that same level. I didn't, but I managed to win because I kept fighting. You could see that we were both mentally... It took a lot out of us. We beat good guys. We've been playing really well. Then to do it...
#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov delivered the performance of his career on Thursday evening, stunning World No. 2 Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in front of an electric Court Central crowd at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. Shapovalov becomes the youngest quarter-finalist at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. He's also the second-youngest player to beat Nadal (Coric, 2014 Basel). "It's so tough. A lot of the times he just hits a shot that's way too good. I was managing to get a lot back when I could. But, you know, he's honestly the best player I've ever played in my life," Shapovalov said. "You could tell why he's won so many Grand Slams. His ball was just so heavy....
The crowd support playing in a French-speaking part of the world is doing the French doubles players no harm at this week’s Coupe Rogers with three duos advancing to the Coupe Rogers quarter-finals in Montreal. The all-French pairing of Fabrice Martin and Edouard Roger-Vasselin pulled off the biggest upset of the day when they defeated No. 2 seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-2. Not to be outdone, Gael Monfils and Benoit Paire pulled off an upset of their own when they took down the No. 3 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The Frenchman prevailed 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 10-5 in one hour and 51 minutes. There was guaranteed to be at least one all-French pairing into the quarter-finals as...
