Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario has reached his second quarterfinal of the 2024 ATP season. The 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist upset Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, the 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist, 6-3, 7-6 in the second round of the 2024 Swiss Indoors in Basel. Shapovalov is ranked 95th in the world, and Bautista Agut is ranked 45th. With the win, Shapovalov will face Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France in the quarterfinals.
Shapovalov had a spectacular performance when it came to his serve. He had 18 aces, compared to only two for Bautista-Agut. Shapovalov won 79% of his first serve points (compared to 63% for Bautista Agut), 68% of his second serve points (compared to 43% for Bautista Agut), won two of eight break point opportunities, and won the second set tiebreak 7-4.
This was the third time in his career Shapovalov beat Bautista Agut. He previously beat him 6-1, 6-3, 7-5 in the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2021, and 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of Washington in the summer. The win over Bautista Agut, was one of three upsets that Shapovalov had in reaching the quarterfinals of Washington. He also beat the 32nd ranked player, Adrian Mannarino of France, 6-2, 6-1, in the second round, and Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2, in the third round.
Mpetshi Perricard upset Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 7-6 in the second round of Basel. This will be the first meeting head to head between Mpetshi Perricard and Shapovalov. The other three quarterfinals have Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece against Arthur Fils of France, Andrey Rublev of Russia against Ben Shelton of the United States, and Holger Rune of Denmark against David Goffin of Belgium.
Meanwhile, it is a great week in women’s tennis too, as 2019 United States Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario, and eighth seed and 2021 United States Open finalist Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec, are both in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Japan Open. Andreescu is facing Katie Boulter of Great Britain, and Fernandez is facing the number one seed, Australian Open finalist and Olympic gold medalist Qinwen Zheng of China.
This is the first time Andreescu is facing Boulter, while Fernandez has beaten Zheng twice in three opportunities. Fernandez first beat Zheng 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 in the second round of Monterrey in 2022, and then beat Zheng 7-5, 6-3, in the third round of Doha in February. The other two quarterfinals of the Japan Open has Sofia Kenin of the United States against Daria Kasatkina of Russia, and Diana Shnaider of Russia is up against Sayaka Ishii of Japan.
