The lone Canadian man left in the singles draw heading into Thursday, Denis Shapovalov’s time in Melbourne came to an end after losing out to former finalist Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 in the Australian Open second round.
Shapovalov wasn’t serving as effectively as he was in his round-one victory over Yunchaokete Bu. The Canadian No. 2 committed seven double faults and won just 67 per cent of his first-serve points compared to his opponent’s 84. The 26-year-old also loss serve six times in the contest, including in back-to-back service games that led to Cilic serving out the match.
After saving the only break point he faced in his opening match, Shapovalov already felt significantly more pressure in the early stages of round two. The Richmond Hillian won just one point through his first two service games, leading to back-to-back breaks, but he managed to break in between the slow start on serve to keep the deficit slim at 1-3.
Cilic then held to increase the lead to 4-1, however, Shapovalov’s comeback bid began. At 2-4, 30-40, the world No. 23 converted on break point, and a gritty hold evened the set at 4-4.
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In hopes of extending the opener at 4-5, Shapovalov raced out to a 40-love advantage, but Cilic creeped back into the game to apply some stress on the Canuck. The 37-year-old broke on his second try to clinch the first set.
Shapovalov didn’t get many looks as he searched for a way to level the match in the second. The Canadian stole just one point off Cilic’s serve over his first three return games, later facing more trouble on his own delivery in the sixth game.
At 2-3, 15-30, a powerful return winner set the Croatian up with double break point. On the second attempt, Shapovalov ended the lengthy rally with one of his 42 unforced errors to concede the break.
The Canuck forced deuce from 40-15 in the ensuing game, but that was the closest he came to a response as Cilic held the rest of the way to take a two-set lead.
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Shapovalov avoided a disastrous start to the crucial third, crawling back from a love-40 hole to hold. However, in the fifth game, the Richmond Hillian faced the same predicament and, on this occasion, Cilic was able to convert to inch closer to victory.
At 2-4, 30-40, another strong return set the former major winner up to serve for a place in the third round. On his first match point, Cilic painted the singles line with his 20th winner of the day to seal his 599th tour-level win, tying Goran Ivanisevic for most by a Croatian player.
The remaining Canadians in Melbourne are all on the women’s side as Victoria Mboko leads off Thursday’s day session against world No. 14 Clara Tauson.
Gabriela Dabrowski and her teammate Luisa Stefani are in action on Thursday as well, one win away from the quarter-finals. Mboko is also alive in women’s doubles, and Leylah Annie Fernandez begins play in mixed doubles with Nick Kyrgios on Friday early morning.
The Davis Cup returns to Canada in February as Canada hosts Brazil in the Qualifiers First Round in Vancouver, Feb. 6-7 at UBC's Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre. Tickets are on sale. Get yours now!
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
