MELBOURNE, Australia – Canadian Denis Shapovalov will face a familiar opponent in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open.

Shapovalov offered inspirational tennis as he defeated Germany’s Alexander Zverev in a straight set 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the third time in his career.

Shapovalov, 14th in the tournament, opened a small door for Zverev (No. 3) in the tiebreak of the second set, but kept pace and finally won in two hours and 24 minutes.

Shapovalov has already reached the quarterfinals of the United States Open in 2020 and the semifinals of the Wimbledon tournament in 2021.

He is also the third Canadian to reach the quarterfinals in Melbourne, after Milos Raonic, who achieved the feat on five occasions, and Mike Belkin, who qualified for this stage in 1968, the first year of the professional tennis season.

Shapovalov will now find Spaniard Rafael Nadal (no 6) in the next round. The Canadian has already beaten the 35-year-old veteran at the Rogers Cup 2017 in Montreal.

“It’s just to fight for every point, to stay on top of the fight, not to let certain things get in the way,” Shapovalov explained, detailing the mentality he hopes to bring to the game. runs in 2022.

“There is no doubt that I expect a long battle. It makes you play a lot. His defense is very good. He is very good at what he does, you know? Said Nadal Shapovalov.

“I have to try to practice my style of play, attack and keep doing what I did (so far): play with patience, fight for every point and choose my moments to play aggressively. »

Shapovalov suffered a slight drop in focus at the end of the second round against Zverev. Beyond that, however, he was superior to the mighty Zverev from the rear. Limit the number of errors. And on a wet day, he managed to stay calm for most of the conflict.

With the exception of 11 double faults, Shapovalov dominated the rallies with power and astonishing consistency. He rarely appeared in trouble.

For his part, Zverev never seemed to be able to make a push. And his old issues with his second service, which were solved more or less in 2021, haunt him again. With eight double faults, he gained just 29 percent of the points in his second serve.

“From Wimbledon, it’s probably one of the worst games I’ve ever played. It is difficult “, Zverev analyzed discouraged.

“Of course, I commend Dennis. It is amazing that he reached the quarterfinals. I think he deserves it. He worked hard. He improved his game, but I have to look at myself too. In my opinion, today was a terrible day for me. »

A long tie break

For his part, Nadal secured his place in the quarterfinals at Melbourne Park for the 14th time in his career, beating France’s Adrian Mannarino in three sets 7-6 (14), 6-2, 6-2.

After resisting four sets of points and failing to convert his first six sets into the first set, Nadal eventually won a tiebreak that lasted 28 minutes and 40 seconds.

Therefore, the search for the record of 21 singles titles in the Grand Slam tournament continues for the Spaniard. He tries to break the tie with Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Mannarino, who managed to enjoy his victory in the third round after hitting at 2 in the morning, sent it all in the direction of Nadal in the opening round at the Rod Laver Arena.

“The first set was very, very emotional,” Nadal said. Anything can happen. I was a little lucky in the end. I had my opportunities and he also had many. I am very happy that I managed to survive the first round. This slightly crazy first set was very important. »

The first set lasted 85 minutes, including the tie break, but the game ended in two hours and 40 minutes.

In the other two matches of Sunday’s round of 16, France’s Gaël Monfils (17th) defeated Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic 7-5, 7-6 (4) 6-3, while Italy’s Matteo Berrettini (7th) took his place. Spanish Pablo Carreno. Busta (19th) 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Monfils and Berrettini will meet in the quarterfinals.

On Monday in Melbourne, Félix Auger-Aliassime from Montreal, the 9th, will try to win his ticket to the quarterfinals, when he will face the Croatian Marin Cilic, who is in the 27th place. The match will start at 22:00 Quebec time on Sunday night at the earliest.