Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario is in the semifinals of the 2022 Dubai Tennis Championship. This is the first time this season that Shapovalov has reached the semifinals in an individual event. Remember in January leading up to the 2022 Australian Open in Sydney, he won the 2022 ATP Cup with Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec.
In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Shapovalov beat Ricards Berankis of Lithuania, 7-6, 6-3. It was Shapovalov’s serve which was working quite well, as he had 14 aces compared to zero for Berankis. Shapovalov also won 85% of his first serve points, 82% of his second serve points, and broke Berankis twice. Berankis meanwhile did not have a break point opportunity throughout the entire match when Shapovalov was serving.
Shapovalov also beat Martons Fucsovics of Hungary, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round, and Taro Daniel of Japan, 6-4, 6-3, in the second round. Shapovalov’s semifinal opponent will be Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic. This will be their first head-to-head meeting.
Vesely made tennis headlines on Thursday when he beat world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia, 6-4, 7-6. This was the first loss for Djokovic in 2022, and with the defeat, he will no longer be first in the world when the ATP rankings come out on Monday. Djokovic will be passed by Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
