Denis SHAPOVALOV (CAN) reacts during Round 1 of the Australian Open on John Cain Arena at Melbourne Park in Melbourne on Monday, January 17, 2022. MANDATORY PHOTO CREDIT Tony Gough/TENNIS AUSTRALIA
Canadian young gun Denis Shapovalov upset No. 3 seeded Alexander Zverev 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach his first Australian Open quarter-final on Sunday.
The left-hander played a brilliant match on Margaret Court Arena, as Zverev complained to the umpire that the court surface was bubbling due to heat.
In a match that lasted two hours and 22 minutes, Shapovalov hit 35 winners and three aces as he broke Zverev four times.
“It’s probably what I least expected, to finish in three, so I’m very happy with my performance and where my game is at,” Shapovalov said.
“Off the ground I was playing really well, feeling my shots off both wings.
“I played pretty smart today and I felt things were going my way early on plus a little bit of momentum in the second set I did well to come back and I kind of rolled with it afterwards.“
At 2-1 in the first set he broke the German to take an early lead and then served out the first set.
In a see-saw second set the Canadian broke first, then Zverev bounced back at 2-2 and then broke again to take a 5-3 lead before a tiebreak saw Shapovalov lead 5-1 to take a two sets to love lead.
Big forehand shots helped the Canadian across the line in the third to set up a quarter-final match with Rafael Nadal who beat Adrian Mannarino in straight sets.
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