Denis Shapovalov delivered his most impressive victory as a tennis professional on Monday. The 18 year-old from Richmond Hill, Ontario easily beat Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 in straight sets in the first round of the 2017 U.S. Open.
After his impressive performance at the Rogers Cup (where he reached the semi-finals) and the fact he does not have a lot of experience in five set matches, there was some concern that Shapovalov might have struggled against Medvedev, who made headlines at Wimbledon when he upset three-time major champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the first round, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
However even though Shapovalov was broken twice in the match, he looked very dangerous when Medvedev was serving, as he broke Medvedev seven times himself. There were a few times that Medvedev came up to the net, but struggled regularly when trying to execute his volley.
Shapovalov’s win over Medvedev will be considered a minor upset. In the world rankings, Medvedev is 53rd and Shapovalov is 69th.
The challenge for Shapovalov in the second round will be very steep. He will be up against 2008 Australian Open finalist and eighth ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France on Wednesday. On Monday, Tsonga beat Marius Copil of Romania, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
