(Melbourne) Denis Shapovalov lost sharply 6-4, 6-3 and 6-2 to Marin Cilic in the second round of the Australian Open tennis tournament on Thursday.

Shapovalov, the 21^e seeded in the tournament, fell to the Croatian, who was finalist at Melbourne Park in 2018, thus leveling the record between the two tennis players at 3-3 in their careers.

As for Cilic, who is 37 years old, he reached the third round of the first major tournament of the season for the first time since 2022. He will face the winner of the duel between the Spaniard Jaume Munar and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 12^e seeded.

The Canadian did not seem to be in his right mood during his match against Cilic. He was notably limited to 12 winning shots, committed 42 unforced errors, and seven double faults during their match.

Moreover, Shapovalov was very generous towards his opponent, 70^e world racket. He conceded six breaks in 12 chances to Cilic, the 2014 U.S. Open winner, and converted only two of his six break points.

For the 26-year-old Ontarian, it was a fourth defeat in his last five matches.

There is therefore only one representative of the maple leaf left in the singles tables of the Australian Open: Victoria Mboko.

The Ontarian, the 17^e seeded, will face the Danish Clara Tauson, 14^e seeded, in the third round in the evening on Thursday.

Her compatriot, the Ontarian Gabriela Dabrowski, and her Brazilian playing partner, Luisa Stefani, will play their second round doubles match against the French Elsa Jacquemot and the Colombian Emiliana Arango, in the evening.