Tennis
Denis Shapovalov qualifies for the second round
(Dubai) Canadian Denis Shapovalov earned his bye to the second round of the Dubai tournament with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over Hungarian Marton Fucsovics on Tuesday.
Shapovalov had eight aces in the duel and broke Fucsovics’ serve on four occasions.
However, the 6and seeded has experienced, at times, trouble with his service. He committed six double faults and got the ball in play just under two-thirds of the time (64%) on his first serve.
PHOTO SUHAIB SALEM, REUTERS
Hungarian Marton Fucsovics
Shapovalov defeated Fucsovics for the first time in his career and is now 1-1 against him. It’s the first meeting between the two players since Fucsovics knocked out Shapovalov in the first round of the 2020 Australian Open.
Shapovalov will cross swords with the Japanese Taro Daniel in the round of 16. Daniel won his match against Belgian David Goffin 6-3, 7-6 (5).
Shapovalov won the only game between the two men, which came at the 2019 Australian Open.
In case of victory, Shapovalov would face the winner of the duel between the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (99and world racket) and Australian Alexei Popyrin (66and world racket) in the quarter-finals.
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Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.