Denis Shapovalov had to work hard, but he finally managed to beat Shang Juncheng 6-1, 6-4 to reach the round of 16 of the Basel indoor tennis tournament on Tuesday.
Shapovalov took 68 minutes to beat the world number 47 on Swiss concrete in this ATP 500 series tournament. It was the first career match between the two tennis players.
The Canadian, ranked 95th in the world, will face the winner of the duel between the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, second seed, in the next round.
After an uneventful first set, Shang adjusted and proved to be tougher against the representative of the maple leaf. Shapovalov notably obtained two break points in the seventh game, but the Chinese fired an ace and took advantage of an unforced error from his opponent to erase them and eventually win the point.
Shapovalov came back in Shang’s next serve game, and this time he didn’t miss a beat. The Ontarian tied Shang at 30-30, then took the lead with a winner. He then sealed the game when Shang committed an unforced error, his 20th and final of the match.
The Canadian outshot Shang 11-4 in aces, and conceded one more double fault (3-2) to his opponent. Shapovalov converted three of his six break points during the match, and saved the only one he offered to the Chinese. Shapovalov also outshot Shang 27-10 in winners.
Elsewhere, eighth-seeded Félix Auger-Aliassime will face Argentina’s Sebastian Baez in the first round on Wednesday. The 24-year-old Quebecer won his only career encounter against Baez 6-3, 6-3 in the Davis Cup group stage earlier this year.
The winner of this duel will face the Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the round of 16, who beat the Australian James Duckworth 7-6 (4), 6-3.
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