Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario is in the final of the 2025 Dallas Open. After upsetting the sixth seed Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic 7-6, 6-0 in the quarterfinals on Friday, Shapovalov upset the third seed and 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul of the United States, 7-5, 6-3 on Saturday. Shapovalov will now face the second seed Casper Ruud of Norway in Sunday’s final.
Shapovalov is a grand slam semifinalist too as he made the final four of Wimbledon in 2021. In the quarterfinals, Shapovalov beat Machac in their first meeting head-to-head. He won the first set tiebreak 7-5, and then clobbered Machac in the second set winning all six games. Shapovalov also broke Machac four times in six opportunities. This was considered an upset as Shapovalov is ranked 54th and Machac is ranked 25th, and sixth in Dallas.
In the semifinals, Shapovalov had six aces compared to two for Paul. Shapovalov broke Paul, who is ranked ninth in the world, once in each set. This was Shapovalov’s second career win over Paul. Shapovalov won 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the second round of Cincinnati in 2022.
Ruud, the second seed, is a three-time grand slam finalist. The fifth ranked player in the world lost the final of the 2022 French Open, 2022 United States Open, and 2023 French Open.
