Shapovalov 'had to come out on fire' to beat Tsitsipas in battle of former Top-10 stars
Denis Shapovalov’s reaction said it all Wednesday evening in Indian Wells. The Canadian was thrilled after battling past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to win a clash of former Top-10 stars and reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
“Definitely never easy to draw a guy like Stefanos first round. I think for both of us it was a very tough matchup” Shapovalov said in his post-match interview. “I knew I had to come out and play my ‘A game’ and come out on fire. It’s never easy to do that in the first rounds, but luckily I was able to do that today. Definitely very happy with the win.”
The lefty walked on court in primetime with a 4-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against the former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who was unseeded at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2018 in Cincinnati. Shapovalov powered to a 6-2 lead and broke Tsitsipas’ serve immediately in the second set.
The Greek showed why he is a three-time Masters 1000 champion, clawing back to force a deciding set. But with the momentum switching, Shapovalov was able to reclaim control of points and earn a second-round meeting with 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
“It’s tough. First round, you get the first-round jitters a little bit and up a set and a break there got ahead of myself a little bit, started thinking of the outcomes of the points a little bit too much and tried to play it a bit too safe,” Shapovalov said. “Played a loose game and you know a guy like that is going to come back and elevate his game, play some great tennis. Definitely very happy I was able to close that out.”
[NEWSLETTER FORM]