For the seventh time in his career, Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario has reached an ATP Tour final. On Saturday, Shapovalov will face Serbian Hamad Medjedovich in the final of the Belgrade Open.
This past week, Shapovalov, who is ranked 78th in the world, beat Martons Fucsovics of Hungary, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 in the first round, upset Nuno Borges of Portugal (the fifth seed in Belgrade and 33rd ranked player in the world) 6-2, 6-4 in the second round, upset Christopher O’Connell of Australia (the 71st ranked player in the world) 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and upset Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic (the fourth seed and 31st ranked player in the world), 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals.
In Shapovalov’s win over Fucsovics on Monday, Shapovalov had eight aces, compared to four for Fucsovics. Shapovalov also broke Fucsovics five times in eight opportunities. This was Shapovalov’s second win over Fucsovics in four matches. Shapovalov also beat Fucsovics in the first round of Dubai in 2022, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
In round two on Wednesday, Shapovalov had nine aces compared to one for Borges. Shapovalov also broke Borges three times in five chances. This was their first ever meeting.
In the quarterfinals on Thursday, Shapovalov had 12 aces compared to two for O’Connell. He also broke O’Connell four times in six chances. This was also their first meeting.
In the semifinals on Friday, Shapovalov had four aces compared to three for Lehecka, and broke Lehecka four times in 11 chances. Lehecka also did not have a single break point chance. Lehecka beat Shapovalov two years ago in Rotterdam. Shapovalov has never played Medjedovic, who is 156th in the world.
Only once before has Shapovalov won an ATP tournament. That came at the 2019 Stockholm Open, where he beat Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-4. In then last five years, Shapovalov has lost five finals. He was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by 24 time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic in the 2019 Paris Indoors, 7-6, 6-4 to three-time grand slam finalist Casper Ruud of Norway in the final of the 2021 Geneva Open, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 to 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul of the United States in the final of the 2021 Stockholm Open, 6-4, 7-6 to Yoshhito Nishioka of Japan in the final of the 2022 Korea Open, and 4-6, 6-3. 6-2 to 2021 United States Open champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
