Denis Shapovalov was back in cruise control in his Mifel Tennis Open title defence.
After losing the opening set in round one, the Canadian No. 2 has won six-straight sets in Los Cabos following his 6-4, 6-2 victory over Dalibor Svrcina in the quarter-finals on Thursday night.
Shapovalov didn’t make life easy for himself though. The Richmond Hillian committed 42 unforced errors and eight double faults, leading the 27-year-old to lose serve twice in the first set. Luckily for Shapovalov, he was able to put significantly more pressure on Svrcina’s delivery, breaking six times on 16 attempts on his way to the win in a little over an hour-and-a-half.
Both players started very slow on serve as Svrcina’s three double faults in the opening game led to the early loss of serve. Despite the Czech No. 5 quickly breaking back from 15-40, he couldn’t deal with Shapovalov’s return at 1-1, 30-40, as the Canuck regained his advantage.
After Shapovalov held to love to couple his break, the world No. 68 broke for the third-consecutive time and consolidated to hold a comfortable 5-1 lead. The defending champion failed to serve out the opening set in eighth game but did so on the second try to take the first 6-4.
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Shapovalov began the second in the same fashion as the opener, securing back-to-back breaks to gain an early 3-0 edge. However, some unforced-error trouble in the fourth game caused the Canadian to lose serve, allowing Svrcina to stay within striking distance. The Czech then held from love-40 in the ensuing game to bring the set to 2-3.
Soon, Shapovalov took control once again, breaking Svrcina in the seventh game to earn the chance to serve for the match at 5-2. From 15-all, the Czech recorded three of his 31 unforced errors to send the Canuck through to the final four.
Shapovalov set up a clash against No. 5 seed Cameron Norrie of Great Britain on Saturday, with play beginning not before midnight Eastern Time.
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Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne
