- Denis Shapovalov made it to the quarterfinals of the US Open men’s singles, becoming the first Canadian to do so.
- He defeated David Goffin 3-1, last night.
- Novak Djokovic was disqualified following an incident which saw him accidentally hitting the line referee with the ball.
Shapovalov Eliminates Goffin
The Canadian tennis player beat David Goffin in the round of 16, 3-1, reaching the top eight at the US Open tournament. It is a historic moment not only for Shapovalov, but for the entire Canadian tennis because the 21-year old became the first-ever player from this country with such an achievement.
“It’s a really proud moment. It’s crazy how far I’ve come,” he said.
Furthermore, it is his first quarterfinals at one Grand Slam, which makes it even more significant for one of the most talented players in the world.
The result in the sets was 6-7(0), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. As you can see, Shapovalov didn’t open the contest very well, being swept away in the tie-break, not winning at least one point.
We often see players falling apart after such a situation, but the talented youngster showed incredible mental power and responded right away. He would collect five break points throughout the entire match and allow his serve to be broken just once. Overall, he posted 13 aces, Goffin only three, and 52 winners compared to 37 of his rival.
He was better on the net with 71% of his rushes, and 34 points won, while Goffin’s percentage was 65, and 20 points taken. Indeed, Shapo looked amazing and ready to take on much harder challenges than this one.
He will play with Pablo Carreno-Busta already on Tuesday. The Spaniard is currently ranked 10 places below Shapovalov on the ATP list, and according to the oddsmakers, the Canadian is a solid favorite coming to this event.
Still, so far, Shapo didn’t have any success against Carreno-Busta, who defeated three times.
“I played him I think four times. I think it’s 3-1 for him. He’s beaten me every time on hard courts. It’s definitely going to be an extremely tough, tough challenge,” he said.
Djokovic Disqualified
Novak Djokovic was supposed to be Shapovalov’s next opponent, according to all the relevant prognosis. However, the Serb was disqualified against Carreno-Busta, after a bizarre incident.
With the Spaniard breaking his serve, and taking the lead in the first set, 6-5, Djokovic hit the ball with his racquet wanting to get it back to the ballkids. Strangely, it hit one of the line umpires directly to the throat, causing her to fall down.
Because of this, the chair umpire awarded a win to Carreno-Busta, and Djokovic was out of the tournament. Even though it was clear that Novak didn’t have any intention of hitting the umpire, the rules were followed, and the biggest favorite for winning the trophy was expelled from the title race.
This opens a chance for all the other players to make a run for it, and among all of them, Shapovalov has pretty solid chances to snatch his first Grand Slam trophy.
