TOKYO – Canadian Denis Shapovalov continued his momentum in recent days by punching his ticket to the semi-finals of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo on Friday.

In the quarterfinals, the 23-year-old Ontario, seeded seventh in the event, defeated Croatia’s Borna Coric in straight sets 6-4, 6-3.

“I think I played really well today,” Shapovalov said. Overall, my level has been very high in the last two weeks and I’m very happy to be back in the semi-finals. »

In the duel with two players ranked 22nd and 28th, respectively, Shapovalov hit nine aces, compared to five double faults, and won 89 percent of the points after breaking his first serve of the game.

Shapovalov was unable to save the only break point he faced in the ninth game of the opening set when he led 5-3. However, he had three breaks of serve in four chances, including one that allowed him to win the first set immediately after losing his serve.

In the second set, Shapovalov took a 3-1 lead with a break in the fourth game and then proved relentless on his serve, winning 12 of a possible 13 points, including eight straight. He also hit seven of his nine aces and committed just one double fault during this second round.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Shapovalov will face American Taylor Fritz, ranked third and 11th in the world. Fritz advanced to the next round after Australia’s Nick Kyrgios withdrew with a knee injury.

This will be the sixth meeting between Shapovalov and Fritz and the Canadian holds the advantage with four wins in five matches. In their last duel, on September 30 in San Diego, Shapovalov defeated the 24-year-old American 7-6 (7), 6-2.

So far in Tokyo, Shapovalov is yet to drop a set, knocking out American Steve Johnson and Japan’s Rio Noguchi in straight sets before saving Coric the same fate.

Last week in Seoul, Shapovalov reached the final, where he lost in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(5) to Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka. He had won his three previous duels without dropping a single set.

Kyrgios with a knee injury

The unstoppable Australian, a finalist this season at Wimbledon, a winner in Washington and climbed to 20th in the ATP rankings, explained to the press that his retirement was a heartbreaking decision but that he had no other choice.

Kyrgios pointed out that he had been “playing fantastic tennis all season” but had taken a toll on his physique.

“I’ve had a knee problem since the US Open, I went home but I probably didn’t rest enough, to be honest I went back to training straight away,” he said.

“It’s heartbreaking. When your body lets you down, it’s not a good feeling,” continued Kyrgios, 27, without specifying whether or not his season was over with a few tournaments to play.

At the top of the table, which was highlighted by a first-round loss to No. 1 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, the semifinal will pit American Frances Tiafoe, a recent US Open semifinalist, against South Korea’s Kwon Soonwoo.

In other quarter-final matches played on Friday, American Frances Tiafoe beat Serbia’s Miomir Kecsmanovic 6-0, 6-4, while South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon defeated Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-0.