Denis Shapovalov was unable to finish his first-round match at the Rolex Paris Masters on Monday as the 27-year-old from Richmond Hill was forced to retire, sending Karen Khachanov through to the next round.
Shapovalov was broken twice on four attempts in the opener, dropping the set in a little over half an hour, but the Canadian No. 2 picked things up in the second as he fired half of his 30 winners before clinching the set in the tiebreaker. Shapovalov was then up a break in the decider but went down favouring his right leg. Following a medical timeout, the Canuck had to retire at 6-3, 6-7(6), 4-1.
The injury concern comes a week after Shapovalov was named to Canada’s Davis Cup Final 8 squad, with the Canadians opening the event on Nov. 24.
Khachanov got on the front foot early, forcing a loss of serve on his first break point of the evening in the second game, before he consolidated to go 3-1 in front. Shapovalov managed to avoid going further behind as the Richmond Hillian saved double break point at 2-4 but had to do so again when serving to keep the set alive at 3-5, 15-40. On this occasion, the Canuck succumbed to the pressure and committed his only double fault of the opener.
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However, Shapovalov was unfazed after dropping the first set. On return in the opening game of the second, the world No. 52 was down 40-love but won the next nine points to grab the early 2-0 advantage. Khachanov’s push for an equalizer came not long after, though. The world No. 24 held four break points in the sixth game and forced the loss of serve to tie the set up at 3-3.
With Shapovalov serving to extend the second at 4-5, the Canadian was again under some pressure as Khachanov was two-points away from the second round at love-30, but Shapovalov held his nerve and served his way to the hold.
Shapovalov’s winning run of eight-straight service points took the set to a tiebreaker where, after scoring an early mini-break, the Canuck dropped the next two points behind his serve. Khachanov extended his lead to 3-1, but Shapovalov managed to level at 3-3 prior to the changeover.
Later, at 6-6, the Richmond Hillian executed a backhand passing shot on the run, beating Khachanov cross court to get the chance to close out the tiebreaker on serve. Shapovalov’s delivery went unreturned as the match headed the distance.
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Shapovalov had the brighter start to the final set. The 27-year-old forced deuce in his opening return game, then broke on the second try from 1-2, 15-40, to take control of the decider. However, at 3-1, 40-30, the Canadian pulled up favouring his right leg and was forced to take a medical timeout.
With his leg wrapped up, Shapovalov still looked to be in some discomfort after dropping the next point, but he powered his way to the hold thanks to a pair of unreturned serves at deuce. Unfortunately, that’s all Shapovalov could give as the injury proved too much to handle, forcing the Canuck to retire in the ensuing game.
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Feature Photo: ATP Tour
