Rafael Nadal was two matches away from becoming the world No 1 again after a gap of almost three years, when the 143rd-ranked Denis Shapovalov derailed his bid by upsetting him in the third round of the Rogers Cup on Thursday in Montreal. It was a huge win for the Canadian not only in terms of the scoreline, but also in terms of the way he overhauled set precedents.
This was the second consecutive upset for Shapovalov in the tournament after downing the world No 31 Juan Martin del Potro in the second round. Thanks to his back-to-back upsets, the 18-year-old will break into the top-100 for the first time in his career.
Here’s then knowing more about this next gen player, who has made an emphatic arrival onto the biggest stages of the Tour:
- Shapovalov is the lowest-ranked player – since the 144th-ranked Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round of the 2014 Wimbledon – to beat Nadal in a tournament. He is the youngest player to beat Nadal, since Borna Coric in the quarter-finals of the 2014 Basel Open.
- He is also the lowest-ranked player to defeat a top-two player, again since Kyrgios’ upset over Nadal in 2014 Wimbledon, in a tournament.
- Shapovalov is the youngest player to beat a top-two player in an event, since the 18-year-old Serbian Filip Krajinovic who won against fellow Serbian and the then world No 2 Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals of the Belgrade Open in 2010. However, since Krajinovic’s win came by way of Djokovic’s retirement in the match, Shapovalov is the first player since Nadal – in the 2004 Miami Open third round against Roger Federer – to win a completed match.
- Lastly, Shapovalov is the youngest player since 11-time Grand Slam champion Bjorn Borg to reach the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup. The Swede had reached the quarter-finals of the tournament in 1974 also as an 18-year-old.
Source: ATP Media Info/ ATP World Tour