Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario is in the third round of Wimbledon. On Thursday, Shapovalov defeated Danny Altmaier of Germany, 7-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-7, 6-4 in the second round of the third major of the year. Shapovalov won the first set tiebreak 7-3 and lost the fourth set tiebreak 7-3.
Two statistics that were in Shapovalov’s favour were aces and winning percentage on second serve points. Shapovalov had nine aces compared to Altmaier’s six, and Shapovalov won 71% of his points on the second serve, while Altmaier only won 59%. Shapovalov won the second round match despite winning fewer total points. Shapovalov won 145 and Altmaier won 152.
If you go by the world rankings, Shapovalov’s win over Altmaier was an upset. Shapovalov is 121st and Altmaier is 80th.
Next up for Shapovalov is the 14th seed Ben Shelton of the United States. Shapovalov and Shelton have something in common as they have both reached a grand slam semifinal, and lost to world number two Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the process. Shapovalov accomplished the feat at Wimbledon in 2021, and Shelton at the United States Open in 2023. This will be the first ever meeting between Shelton and Shapovalov.
Shapovalov is one of two Canadians in the third round. The other is Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario.
