As we are gearing up to the Australian Open on Saturday, Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario delivered a first round upset at the 2025 Adelaide International. Shapovalov, the 58th ranked player in the world, beat Zhizhen Zhang of China, the 47th ranked player in the world, and ninth ranked player in Adelaide, 6-3. 6-4.
Shapovalov delivered a dominant first round appearance on Monday. He had nine aces compared to four for Zhang. Shapovalov also won 97% of his points on his first serve, and broke Zhang twice in five opportunities. Zhang, meanwhile, did not have a single break point chance. Shapovalov also won 61 of 107 points.
In the second round, Shapovalov will play the winner of Aleksandar Vukic of Australia and Marcos Giron of the United States. Shapovalov has beaten Vukic once before. That was in the first round of Queen’s in 2021, where Shapovalov won 7-6, 7-6.
Shapovalov is one of two Canadians in the Adelaide International. The other is Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, who is the fifth seed, and received a first round bye. He will play either Arthur Cazaux of France or Adam Walton of Australia. Auger-Aliassime beat Cazaux once before. It came in the second round of Montpellier in 2024, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6. Auger-Aliassime has also beaten Walton once before. It came in the first round of Miami in 2024, 7-5, 6-4.
