Shapovalov Shines In Geneva Double Duty
Denis Shapovalov successfully completed double duty on Thursday at the Gonet Geneva Open, winning two matches to advance to the semi-finals.
The left-handed Canadian clawed through a tight three-setter against Marco Cecchinato at the beginning of the day, and then he returned to the court to beat Laslo Djere 6-4, 6-4 in the last match of the day.
“I definitely think I played amazing today,” Shapovalov said. “Obviously a very tough day playing two matches, but super happy to get the win and super excited to be in the semi-finals.”
Shapovalov, who is pursuing his second ATP Tour title this week, is into his first semi-final since Dubai in March. The 22-year-old lost a three-set epic against Rafael Nadal in Rome last week.
[WATCH LIVE 1]The second seed will next play Uruguayan shotmaker Pablo Cuevas, who also earned two wins on the day. The 35-year-old qualifier backed up a triumph against 18-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux with a 7-6(3), 6-3 upset of fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov. Cuevas defeated Shapovalov 7-6(4), 6-3 in their only previous ATP Head2Head meeting three years ago in Indian Wells.
“We’ve only played once before on hard courts and he beat me there,” Shapovalov said. “He’s an amazing clay-court player, so it will definitely be a tough battle ahead of me.”
Photo Credit: Alexandre Hergott/Open Parc
Third seed Casper Ruud only needed one victory to make the last four on Thursday. The Norwegian defeated German lefty Dominik Koepfer 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 after one hour and 58 minutes.
“It was a tough match. Dominik played very well in the first set, I think. He answered me with great backhands when I tried to play heavy down to his backhand corner,” Ruud said. “I think I was able to find a way today and I was happy with the way I was playing in the second and third sets.”
The 22-year-old is into his fourth consecutive semi-final and his 12th overall at tour-level, with all of those coming on clay. Notably, Ruud has made ATP Masters 1000 semi-finals in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year (he did not compete in Rome). Next up will be Spaniard Pablo Andujar, who upset Roger Federer in the second round.
Andujar rallied past another home favourite, Dominic Stephan Stricker, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 after two hours and 12 minutes. Ruud defeated the veteran 6-2, 6-3 in Buenos Aires last year.