The Canadian got some payback for a loss he suffered at the French Open against his Spanish opponent.
Denis Shapovalov booked his spot in round three of the US Open after beating the world number 95 Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets 7-6, 6-3, 6-0 in two hours and seven minutes hitting 50 winners and serving nine aces in the match.
“He’s super tough and of course I wanted to get my revenge today and it kinda left a sour taste in my mouth the way I lost to him in a tough five-set match so I knew it was going to be a difficult match and I was really motivated to get the best of him but of course you saw some nerves against him so I am happy I was able to pull through and kinda manage it in the moment and just get the win today and I honestly didn’t expect to get it so quickly”.
The Canadian got off to a fast start breaking serve in the first game of the match but failed to consolidate the break and it stayed on serve for the rest of the set and the first set would be decided by a tiebreak.
The tiebreak was also very competitive and it was the Canadian who was able to get ahead first and take a 4-2 lead but lost two straight points and it was even again at 4-4.
The Spaniard found himself at set point at 6-4 after a double fault by the Canadian but couldn’t convert it and the world number 10 was able to come back and win the tiebreaker 9-7 to take the first set.
The first two games of the second set went with serve and at 2-1 once again the 22-year-old had two chances to break and took full advantage of it.
That one break of serve was enough for him to serve out the set and take 2-0 set lead.
The third set is where the world number 10 dominated breaking in the first game and then going up a double break to take a 3-0 lead with a sensational backhand passing shot on breakpoint.
It became one-way traffic for Shapovalov and he would go on to bagel the third set to book his spot in the third round.
After the match in his on-court interview, Shapovalov was asked to comment on the fact Leylah Fernandez, Felix Auger Aliassime, and Bianca Andreescu all made the third round at the US Open.
“It’s great to see soo many Canadians through and obviously Vasek (Pospisil) had a tough one so it’s great to see all the Canadians in form and doing well and this late in the season and hopefully we can keep it going as long as possible”.
Shapovalov will next face Lloyd Harris in the third round and they most recently met earlier in the year in Dubai with the South African beating him in three sets.
