Photo : Peter Staples/ATP Tour
Home court advantage can be a difficult thing to overcome. Denis Shapovalov learned this the hard way on Monday at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.
In a rematch of their third-round encounter at the Australian Open six weeks ago, Reilly Opelka got his revenge against Shapovalov, who had won that clash in four sets, handing the Canadian a three-set loss in the American’s home nation.
As expected, Opelka rode his big serve and while Shapovalov was able to grab the opening set in a tiebreak, he fell behind early in the second and was never able to catch up, eventually folding 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4.
Opelka rained 11 aces down on the Canadian, overall winning 74 percent of his service points. Shapovalov was strong on serve himself, although 10 double faults were not helpful to his cause. The difference in the match ended up being break points, as Opelka saved all four he faced while breaking the Canadian twice.
Just like their match in Australia, the first set required a tiebreak, although this time there were no breaks of serve despite both men having break point chances.
In the breaker, Opelka won the first point on his own serve before Shapovalov won four in a row, including two minibreaks, to take a stranglehold at 4-1. That lead proved insurmountable as the Canadian hung on to take the tiebreak 7-4 and the opening set.
Early in the second, Shapovalov had a chance to take control when he held a break point in the second game, but missed his return.
Missed opportunities haunted the Canadian in the second set. A game after failing to convert that break point, he double-faulted serving at 40-love, the first of five points in a row he lost on serve to surrender the first break point the match.
Once Opelka has a break, the set is almost always over and this match was no different. The American had to save a break point as he served for the set at 5-4, but ultimately hung on to force a decider.
Double faults again hurt Shapovalov early in the third as he double-faulted at 30-all in the opening game to give his opponent a break point. Opelka then drew an error with a big forehand to take the immediate break.
Just like the previous set, once he had the lead, Opelka did not look back, riding his serve to victory.
Shapovalov is still alive in doubles, competing alongside regular partner Rohan Bopanna.
