The Canadian is through to the second round after a 5 set marathon against his Italian opponent.
Denis Shapovalov is through to the second round after beating Jannik Sinner in 5 sets 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, and 6-4 in a match that lasted over three hours and was one of the matches of the day.
A fast start for the Italian
After holding in the opening service game of the match the San Candido, Italy native managed to earn three break points and broke the world number 12 as his backhand sailed wide to take the early 2-0 lead.
He would consolidate the break and from there it was smooth sailing for the Italian who would serve out the first set to take it 6-3.
The Canadian responds
The second set was a much tighter affair with the rallies intensifying and it was looking like this was going to be a great match. We didn’t see a break point in the second set till Shapovalov was up 4-3 and using his trademark backhand broke to take a 5-3 lead and served out the set taking it 6-3.
Canadian dominance
The third set was almost like the second but we saw a lot more chances for both players to break. In the opening service game the Nassau, Bahamas resident had a chance to break once again but was denied by the big serve from the Italian.
Sinner held serve and the following service game had chances of his own to break having three great opportunities but the Richmond Hill, Ontario native saved all three break points before eventually holding playing some great tennis.
At 2-2 Shapovalov had three more chances to break and take the lead and after saving the first two the Italian served an untimely double fault to give the Canadian a 3-2 lead.
The number 11 seed would hold serve and had another great opportunity to extend his lead in the very next game and after saving the first two the Canadian would break as Sinner when he sent a ball out to take a commanding 5-2 lead.
He would serve out the set to take it 6-2 and put himself up two sets to one.
The Italian comeback
Entering the fourth set the Canadian was a set away from booking his spot in the next round while the Italian was trying to stay alive. At 1-1, another unforced error from Sinner gave Shapovalov another early breakpoint and like the third set would gift the break when he served another double fault to give the Canadian a 2-1 lead.
The world number 12 would hold serve and at 3-2 the Canadian would face three break points from the Italian and would eventually get broken as it was Shapovalov turn to hit an unforced error and we were back on serve at 3-3.
From there both players held serve until 5-4 when Sinner earned three set points with more errors from the Canadian and took the fourth set 6-4 sending the match into a fifth and deciding set.
The final set
During the break before the fifth set Shapovalov seemed incensed with the chair umpire for refusing to let him use the washroom due to the fact he had called the trainer.
“I am going to piss my pants, I’m going to pee in the bottle”
The trainer finally came out and the Canadian took a medical timeout to have work done on his left shoulder.
The timeout seemed to work as Shapovalov jumped out of the gates and earned a breakpoint in the first game of the final set and broke the Italian to take a 1-0 lead.
He would consolidate the break once again and at 5-4 he finally got to the point of closing out the match and had his first match point which was saved by Sinner and the next point the world number 12 served a double fault to give the Italian a break point to go back on serve.
The number 11 seed would save it and on his second match point would make no mistake closing it out in style with his backhand to win the match.
