Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario is in his first ATP Final of 2022. On Friday, Shapovalov, the fourth seed, defeated Jenson Brooksby of the United States, the eighth seed, 7-5, 6-4 in the first of two semifinals of the 2022 Korea Open in Seoul.
Shapovalov was broken twice in the match, but was able to break Brooksby on four occasions. Shapovalov also had six aces compared to only one for Brooksby.
As being the fourth seed at the Korea Open, Shapovalov got a first round bye. He then proceeded to beat Jaume Munar of Spain 7-5, 6-4 in the second round, and then Radu Albot of Moldova 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Shapovalov will next play Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the final on Saturday night (Sunday afternoon in Seoul). In the other semifinal in Seoul, Nishioka beat American ATP rookie Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Nishioka won the only prior meeting against Shapovalov, in the second round of the 2018 Shenzhen Open in China, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5. Nishioka, who was a qualifier four years ago in Shenzhen, beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France in the final, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. That was the only ATP title of Nishioka’s career.
As for Shapovalov, this will be his fifth ATP Final. His only prior ATP win came at the 2019 Stockholm Open in Sweden, where he beat Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-4.
