
Courtesy: Peter Staples/ATP WorldTour
Delray Beach, Florida
It was a battle of two exciting #NextGen players on the ATP Tour in Saturday nights semi-final at the Delray Beach Open. 20-year old American Frances Tiafoe moved into his first career ATP main draw Final with a 7-5, 6-4 win over 18-year old phenom Denis Shapovalov in just 71 minutes.
Tiafoe, who needed three sets in each of his previous matches just to get into the semi-finals, played well from the onset and was more consistent than his opponent from the baseline. His first serve was also strong at 72-percent and he managed to avoid a single double fault for the first time in the tournament.
“Big Foe” and “Shapo” as they are nicknamed, each held serve in the opening set until the 11th game. That’s when Shapovalov got into a Love-30 hole after a backhand into the net. Two points later, a bankhand shank gave Tiafoe two break points and on a Shapovalov second serve, Tiafoe crushed a backhand winner down the line. Tiafoe, in a Lebron James-like celebration, raced to the chair with his fist in front of him. Just the third time in the tournament the Canadian has been broken. In the next game a 130 mph ace gave Tiafoe the set in 37 minutes.
It was a sluggish start to the second for Shapovalov, playing in his second career ATP main draw semi-final. He began the set with his first double fault of the match. A pair of shots into the net including a poor decision to go for too much on a backhand down the line gave Tiafoe an early 1-0 lead.
Two games later, there was more trouble for the Canadian. Two more double faults followed by another backhand mistake into the net gave Tiafoe, ranked No 91 in the world coming into the tournament, his third straight break and a 3-0 lead.
Shapovalov did get one break back in next game but the damage was done. Shapovalov, the No 46 ranked player in the world couldn’t get into any rhythm and on match point flew another backhand wide giving the match to Tiafoe.
“Some of my goals for this year was to start doing well in these events,” said Tiafoe. “I’m gonna keep riding this wave and see where it takes me. I wasn”t expecting this. I am going to see his (Shapovalov’s) face a lot across the net quite a few times here in the next 10-15 years, I’m excited for it.”
“Definitely sucks to lose but have to give Frances credit today, he played extremely well,”Shapovalov said. “He’s been hot all week beating unbelievable players. It’s disappointing but it’s been a great week for me.”
With a win in the final on Sunday, Tiafoe has a chance to become the first Wild Card to win the Delray Beach Open in the 26 year history. He will face German Peter Gojowczyk in Sunday’s final. It is also just the second all-unseeded Final in the tournaments history.
Gojowczyk has an impressive run going against Americans. Including Challenger events, he has won his last 14 straight matches against US born players, 8 straight in main draw ATP events and three this week. His last loss coming to Tiafoe at a Challenger event in Illinois last year.
“It’s a joke, it’s unbelievable,” Tiafoe said jokingly. “It’s got to stop, he loves that American flag, I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”
Note:
A nice gesture by the tournament organizers at the Delray Beach Open on Saturday. They invited students from the nearby Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to attend the days matches free of charge. The school was the sight of last week’s mass shooting in which 17 people lost their lives.
@Sportshorn