Shapovalov Steps Up Milan Bid, Plays Carreno Busta In Chengdu Semi-finals

Denis Shapovalov booked a place in his third ATP Tour semi-final of the year on Friday to further improve his chances of securing a place at the Next Gen ATP Finals in November.

The eighth-seeded Canadian wore down in-form Egor Gerasimov of Belarus in a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over one hour and 38 minutes at the Chengdu Open. Gerasimov had beaten top seed John Isner in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

“It feels great, I’m in good form and I feel that I’m getting over the jet lag now,” said Shapovalov. “Egor is a good player, with a tough serve to read, so I’m happy to get into another semi-final. I tried to pick up my serve in the third set.”

Big serving from Shapovalov — nine aces and 85 per cent of first-service points won — helped him record his 25th match win of the season, which also includes semi-final runs at the Miami Open presented by Itau (l. to Federer) in March and the Winston-Salem Open (l. to Hurkacz) in August. He is currently in fourth position in the 2019 ATP Race To Milan.

The 20-year-old Shapovalov will now face Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who knocked out Cristian Garin of Chile 7-5, 6-2 in 83 minutes. Shapovalov beat Carreno Busta 6-3, 7-6(5) in May during the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome, which represented their second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (also 2017 US Open).

“It was a very good win as I was focused all of the match,” said Carreno Busta. “I felt really comfortable on the court today. I played the match at 100 per cent. I played against Denis in Rome, which was probably not my best match, but I have a chance for revenge tomorrow and I hope to continue to enjoy this tournament.”