Number 12 seed Denis Shapovalov claimed a 6-3 6-3 win over 204 US Open champion Marin Cilic in 1 hour and 18 minutes in the Western and Southern Open in New York. The young Canadian player had scored his last win against Cilic at the Open 13 in Marseille before the ATP Tour was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Shapovalov beat Cilic for the third consecutive match dropping 15 points in 9 service games. The Canadian player saved the only break point he faced. Cilic was broken three times and hit 7 winners to 21 unforced errors.
Shapovalov fended off a break point with a service winner in the fifth game before earning a break in the next game with a forehand winner to open up a 4-2 lead.
Shapovalov hit three service winners to seal the opening set 6-3, as he was serving for the first set.
In the second set Shapovalov broke serve to love to take a 2-1 lead and held on his serve in the next game. He got a double break at 5-3 after a backhand error from Cilic.
“I don’t think I could have played much better. It was a really tough draw to play against Marin in the first round. He is such an amazing player, and has proven that again and again. It was definitely not easy for both of us out there, so I am really happy to get a win against him and start back”.
Shapovalov set up a second round clash against Jan Lennard Struff, who beat Australia’s Alex De Minaur 6-2 6-4. The German has won three of his four head-to-head matches against Shapovalov, but the Canadian won their only head-to head match 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 after saving a match point in the tie-break of the second set at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
Milos Raonic has become the third Canadian player to get through to the second round. Raonic beat Sam Querrey 6-4 6-4 saving all three break points and breaking once in each set.
Raonic hit 28 winners to 19 unforced errors to score his 350th ATP Tour win.
Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta came back from 2-4 down in the opening set to beat Dusan Lajovic 7-5 6-1 in 1 hour and 28 minutes.
Reilly Opelka beat Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 to clinch his seventh Masters 1000 win. Opelka saved both break points and got one break in each set.
