Houston (AFP) – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov completed a giant-killing run to the Dallas Open title on Sunday, defeating Norway’s fifth-ranked Casper Ruud 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 for his third career ATP crown. Unseeded Shapovalov became only the fifth player since 2020 to knock out the three top seeds on the way to an ATP title and just the fourth player since 2009 to beat three top-10 rivals on the way to a 250- or 500-level title.
Shapovalov ousted two home soil favorites earlier, dispatching world number four Taylor Fritz in the second round and ousting ninth-ranked defending champion Tommy Paul in the semi-finals. The 500-level trophy was the biggest of Shapovalov’s career after victories at Stockholm in 2018 and last November in Belgrade, and comes after an injury fightback since mid-2023.
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“I’ve been facing some difficult injuries with the knee. It has been a long road back,” Shapovalov said. “Struggles to get some titles, to get that momentum going back on the court but my team and the people close to me have kept lifting me up, kept putting me back on the right pathway whenever I’ve been down and these titles, Belgrade and this one, would definitely not be possible without them.”
Shapovalov will jump 22 spots to 32nd in the ATP rankings next week. He was 127th at this point last year. Shapovalov fired 12 of his 13 aces in the first set and never faced a break point but still had a battle to claim a tie-breaker over second seed Ruud, who made only eight unforced errors in the set.
Ruud swatted a crosscourt forehand wide to hand Shapovalov a 5-4 edge in the tie-breaker and went long with a backhand to surrender two set points. Ruud saved the first on a net cord winner but then netted a forehand to hand Shapovalov the opening set. Shapovalov broke in the second game of the second set and had two more break chances on Ruud in the fourth before the European held to pull within 3-1.
Shapovalov used three drop-shot winners to hold for a 4-1 edge, held again to 5-2, and captured the match after an hour and 40 minutes with an overhead smash. “Incredible effort all week,” Ruud said of Shapovalov. “Great to see you back playing so well. Little bit annoying today but really great.”
Ruud lost for the first time in three meetings with Shapovalov, who denied the Norwegian a 13th career ATP title. Shapovalov blasted 46 winners to 31 unforced errors, while Ruud made 23 winners and just 14 unforced errors.
© 2024 AFP
