For the second time in his tennis career, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ontario has advanced to the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 series event. On Friday, Shapovalov beat Kyle Edmund of Great Britain 7-5, 6-7, 6-4 in three greuling sets in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Open.
The turning point of the match came early in third set when Shapovalov broke Edmund. With the third set tied at one game apiece, Edmund had back to back shots that went long, forcing Shapovalov to earn a break.
Another turning point came in the second set. Edmund seemed to get rattled when a fan from the crowd yelled “out” when Shapovalov served a clear ace. Edmund asked for a let, and his request was not granted. In a bizarre turn of events, the Italian chair umpire, Gianluca Moscarella of Italy kept on telling Edmund it wasn’t Davis Cup.
Shapovalov will now play Alexander Zverev of Germany, the second seed in the tournament. Zverev beat John Isner of the United States 6-4, 7-5 in another quarterfinal.
This will be the second time that Shapovalov will face Zverev in the semifinals of an ATP Masters 1000 Series event. At the 2017 Rogers Cup in Montreal, Zverev beat Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5 before Zverev shocked Roger Federer of Switzerland 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
The other semi-final has Kevin Anderson of South Africa against Dominic Thiem of Austria. Thiem shocked the heavily favoured Rafael Nadal of Spain 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinal on Friday.
