Denis Shapovalov appears to be finding his game just in time for his hometown tournament. The Canadian is through to the semifinals of the ATP 250 Mifel Tennis Open in Los Cabos, Mexico, after a routine victory over Tristan Schoolkate on Thursday night in straight sets.
So far, Shapovalov has dropped a mere eight games on the Pacific Coast. After a bye, he kicked off his tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over American Govind Nanda and kept the good times going against the Aussie Schoolkate in the quarter-finals, upping his level as the match went along to score a 6-3, 6-2 win.
The match was on Shapovalov’s racquet throughout, as he struck 26 winners to his opponent’s four, but also committed 35 unforced errors. He kept Schoolkate under constant pressure, winning 49 per cent of the Aussie’s service points and was perfect on break points, converting all four of his chances.
For a minute early on, it looked like Shapovalov could suffer a letdown after his dominant opening win as he played a sloppy service game early, double-faulting twice as he dropped serve to go down 1-2.
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However, after Schoolkate consolidated, the Canadian upped his game. From 3-1 down in the first set, Shapovalov reeled off seven games in a row, breaking three times, as he turned the deficit into a set and a break lead.
The backhand return was coming up big for the Canadian in the opening set. On break point at both 2-3 and 4-3, he teed off on a Schoolkate serve with his backhand and the Aussie could not handle the return, allowing Shapovalov to secure the breaks and ultimately the set in just 32 minutes.
A double fault from Schoolkate in the opening game of the second set opened the door for Shapovalov to seize control early and this time it was a forehand return from the Canadian getting the job done. While he had to battle on his own serve to consolidate, Shapovalov managed to get the hold for a 2-0 lead.
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Schoolkate had one chance to get back in it when he had a break point in the sixth game, but the Canadian erased it with some impressive play at the net. That was the last gasp for the Aussie as Shapovalov broke in the following game, this time drawing an error at the end of a long rally, before easily serving out the match to love.
It is Shapovalov’s first trip to the final four of an event since reaching back-to-back semis in Dallas, where he won the title, and Acapulco in February. Standing between him and the final will be eighth-seeded Aussie Adam Walton on Friday night.
Feature Photo : Abierto Los Cabos
