Denis Shapovalov always likes to come back to Montreal where he has had some very good times since the beginning of his career. And he hopes that his move to the National Bank Open this week will allow him to revive.
However, it will have to wait a little before being fixed since the rain played the spoilsports, Monday evening, at the IGA Stadium. Shapovalov and Australia’s Alex de Minaur were tied 3-3 in the second set tiebreaker when a downpour caused the stoppage after 1:49 a.m.
De Minaur had won the first set 7-5 by offering the break in the 12th game. The two players were engaged in a good fight until the time of the interruption.
As the weather conditions were not expected to improve, the organizers decided to end the session and play will resume at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. The match between Shapovalov and de Minaur will be completed on center court after the second single of the day between Alexis Galarneau and Grigor Dimitrov.
Shapovalov, the 22nd player in the world, has lost his two previous confrontations against de Minaur, who is one step ahead of him in the ATP rankings.
Very solid in service, notably with five aces, Shapovalov however lacked consistency, with 23 unforced errors for 28 winning strokes. His rival committed only 10 unforced errors for 14 winning shots.
The 23-year-old Ontarian has been struggling for a few months, he who was limited to a single victory in his seven previous tournaments since mid-May.
He started the year well though, securing victories over Reilly Opeka and Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open in January before losing to Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.
He was also in the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters in early May, pinning Nadal in the process.
Recall that on his full-time debut on the professional circuit in 2017, Shapovalov made an impression on his debut in Montreal by eliminating Nadal before eventually losing in the semi-finals against Alexandre Zverev.
In other games completed on Monday, Karen Khachanov defeated Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 and Jenson Brooksby defeated Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-3.