DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov won his place in the second round of the Dubai tournament with a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics on Tuesday.

Shapovalov had eight aces in the duel and broke Fucsovics’ serve on four occasions.

However, the 6th seed encountered, from time to time, problems with its service. He made six double faults and put the ball in play just under two-thirds of the time (64%) in his first serve.

Sapovalov defeated Futsovic for the first time in his career and now has 1-1 against him. It is the first meeting between the two players since Futsovic repelled Sapovalov in the first round of the Australian Open 2020.

Shapovalov will cross swords with Japan’s Taro Daniel in the round of 16. Daniel won his match against Belgium’s 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 Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis (99th racket in the world) and Australian Alexei Popyrin (66th racket in the world) in the quarterfinals.

Rublev continues its dynamics in Dubai

Russian Andrey Rublev, 7th player in the world, eliminated in two sets hung 6-4, 7-5 the British Daniel Evans (28th) and confirmed his good form in the first round.

The Russian, No. 2 in the Qatar tournament, was hit in the face, but was stronger than Evans, 31, to win in 1:36.

Rublev, 24, will face South Korean Kwon Soon-woo (60th) in the second round, who defeated Belarus’ Ilya Ivashka (45) 6-3, 6-2.

The Russian won the ATP 250 tournament in Marseille on Sunday, the ninth title of his career, defeating Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime, 9th in the world, in the final.