Denis Shapovalov has had ups and downs since his unexpected semi-final in Montreal in 2017. Despite being one of the best young players on the ATP Tour, Shapo was still looking for his first final, and therefore its first title, among professionals.
At the Intrum Stockholm Open, Shapovalov received a bye in the first round before facing, on Thursday, Australia's Alexei Popyrin, 90th in the world rankings. It wasn't a walk in the park for the young Canadian, who finally managed to win 6-4, 7-6(3) after a one-hour, 32-minute duel. The next day, the task was a lot easier in the quarter-finals as he dismissed Germany's Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 6-0, 6-3 in just 48 minutes.
Since his sensational debut on the ATP circuit two years ago, Shapovalov has played in seven semi-finals, bowing on each occasion:
2017 Rogers Cup: 4-6, 5-7 vs Alexander Zverev
2018 Delray Beach Open: 5-7, 4-6 vs Francis Tiafoe
2018 Mutua Madrid Open: 4-6, 1-6 vs Alexander Zverev
2018 Rakuten Japan Open: 3-6, 3-6 vs Daniil Medvedev
2019 Miami Open: 2-6, 4-6 vs Roger Federer
2019 Winston-Salem Open: 3-6, 4-6 vs Hubert Hurkacz
2019 Chengdu Open: 3-6, 4-6 vs Pablo Carreno Busta
As you can see, in those seven semi-finals, Shapo didn't win a single set, suffering defeat each time in two sets.
In the final four in Stockholm, he competed against Japanese Yuichi Sugita, a lucky loser. After a very bad start, during which he quickly trailed 2-4* in the first set, Shapovalov leveled up at 4-all before getting close to losing the initial set. Down *4-5, 0-30, the 20-year-old Ontarian took off, winning the first set with a score of 7-5. Then, he completely flew over the second set with a solid 6-2 to earn his place in the final.
In the final match, Denis Shapovalov faced the Serbian Filip Krajinovic, the world's No. 60. The electrifying left-hander could have been nervous at the beginning of the match as it was his first professional final, while Krajinovic was in his third final on the ATP Tour after losses in Budapest in April and at the Paris Masters in 2017
However, it wasn't the case at all, while Shapovalov played an almost perfect opening set, hitting service winner after service winner, including no less than 9 aces. After breaking the 1-1 draw, Shapo continued to strafe his opponent's services, getting a break point at each of the following three serve games of the Serb, but each time, Krajinovic was able to hold. Shapo managed to win the first round without too much difficulty by the score of 6-4 in just 37 minutes while losing just five points on his serve.
Krajinovic was more threatening on Shapovalov's serve in the second set, getting his only break point in the fourth game, which was quickly canceled by Shapo with strong deep shots, provoking a forced error from the Serb. In the following game, Shapovalov got three chances to break Krajinovic's serve that he foolishly wasted trying to play the big game. The Ontarian continued his hard work and his efforts were rewarded when he managed to break Krajinovic in the ninth game of the second act.
If Bianca Andreescu had been very nervous when serving for the titles at Indian Wells and the US Open, that wasn't the case for Shapovalov. He continued his domination on his serve, easily winning the first three points before Krajinovic sent a ball into the net to close the debate. Shapovalov became the first Canadian to win an ATP title since Milos Raonic in Brisbane in 2016.
Following this victory, Shapovalov will be ahead of his Ontario compatriot in the next ATP rankings, as he'll climb to No. 27.
Shapovalov won't have so much time to enjoy his maiden career triumph as he will have to head quickly to Vienna, Austria, where he will meet Pablo Carreno Busta, most likely on Tuesday.
Feature photo: Getty Images