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Photo: Mauricio Paiz|

Denis Shapovalov will have to wait a little longer for his first ATP final. The 20-year-old Canadian was denied in the semi-final of the Chengdu Open on Saturday morning as he fell to a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Spain’s Pablo Carreno-Busta (No. 63).

This was just the third meeting between the two players. The first came in the round of 16 at the 2017 US Open as the pair produced a tightly-contested match. Although a straight-sets Carreno-Busta victory might not suggest that was the case, the fact each set was won on a tiebreak shows it could have gone either way.

Their most recent clash came at the Rome Open in Italy earlier this year. That time Shapovalov got the better of the Spaniard with a 6-3, 7-6(5) triumph.

This time, though, it was a fairly routine match between the duo, with just two breaks of serve deciding its outcome. Unfortunately for Shapovalov, those two break points were the only ones he faced all match and he was unable to make anything of the two he manufactured on his opponent’s serve.

Other than that, the statistics show it was a fairly even contest. In fact, Shapovalov produced an impressive 12 aces to Carreno-Busta’s two and the Canadian also managed to go through the match without double faulting. The 20-year-old’s first-serve percentage was 71% to the Spaniard’s 67%.

However, it will be Carreno-Busta who advances to the final, where he will face Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, who is currently ranked No. 71 on the ATP Tour.

(Feature photo: Mauricio Paiz)

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