Canadian Denis Shapovalov advanced to the second round of the Acapulco Tennis Tournament on Monday night with a 6-7(4), 6-0, 7-5 three-set victory over Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in a duel bringing together two players ranked 30th and 31st, respectively.
Around a second set where he was absolutely impeccable, the 23-year-old Canadian delivered an uneven performance in the first and third sets. However, he was able to pull the chestnuts out of the fire thanks to a crucial break in the 11th game of the decisive set.
Shapovalov ended the duel after 2 hours 12 minutes of action, in the next game, when Kecmanovic returned a serve into the net on the Canadian’s second match point.
Shapovalov thus earned a third victory in as many attempts against the 23-year-old Serb, the previous two dating back to 2019.
In the round of 16, Shapovalov will face American Taylor Fritz, ranked fifth in the world, who beat his compatriot John Isner 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Shapovalov entered the duel with authority, earning 13 of the game’s first 18 points and the first three games, including a service break in the second game.
Kecmanovic gradually recovered and remained a break away from the Canadian until the ninth game of the opening set, during which he gave himself two break points as Shapovalov served for the set at 5-3.
The first was enough when Shapovalov dispatched a smash far beyond the baseline, and both players were back on even serve.
After consolidating that break, Kecmanovic was treated to another gift from Shapovalov, this time on a double fault, and took the lead for the first time in the match. The Serb, however, lost his serve in the next game, forcing a tiebreaker.
Kecmanovic scored the key mini-break to give himself a 5-4 lead following an unforced error from the Canadian. He ended the first set in 57 minutes with a backhand volley that closed the most spectacular point of the game so far.
The second set took a totally unexpected turn. While one would have thought that the Serb was going to use his comeback to win, it was Shapovalov who became intractable.
He needed just 25 minutes to clear Kecmanovic and force a decisive set, aided by 14 winners and three aces.
In that decisive set, Shapovalov broke his rival’s serve in the third game, when Kecmanovic sent a backhand cross into the net.
Shapovalov then played brilliantly until the 10th game, where he completely lost his means, and the four points on his serve, when he was in position to end the duel.
It happened two games later.