Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario is in the second round of the 2024 Swiss Indoors in Basel, Switzerland. On Tuesday, Shapovalov defeated Juncheng Shang of China 6-1, 6-4. Based on the ATP World Rankings, Shapovalov’s win over Shang would have been considered an upset, as Shapovalov is ranked 95th in the world, and Shang is 47th.
A major reason why Shapovalov came through with the win, came down to the serve. Shapovalov had 11 aces compared to four for Shang. Shapovalov also broke Shang three times in six opportunities, and won 89% of the points on his first serve.
Shapovalov, a semifinalist from Wimbledon in 2021, who qualified for the 2024 Swiss Open via a wildcard, will now face either Casper Ruud of Norway or Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain in the second round. Ruud, the second seed, is a three-time grand slam finalist. He made the final of the French Open in 2022 and 2023, and the United States Open in 2022. Bautista-Agut reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2019.
Shapovalov is 2-0 against Bautista-Agut and 0-2 against Ruud all-time. Shapovalov’s wins came against Bautista-Agut in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021 (6-1, 6-3, 7-5), and the first round of Washington in 2024 (6-1, 6-4).
The other Canadian in the singles draw this week is the eighth seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec. Auger-Aliassime, who reached the semifinals of the 2021 United States Open, has won the last two Swiss Indoors. He will face Sebastien Baez of Argentina in the first round on Wednesday. Auger-Aliassime has beaten Baez in their only other prior meeting, 6-3, 6-3, in the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester this past September.
