Rogers Cup 2017 - Canadian 18-year-old unknown player Dennis Shapovalov gave a sensation by defeated top seed Rafael Nadal in the Rogers Cup tennis tournament.
Incredible, beautiful unbelievable happened in Montreal last night. Applause rang out from a sold-out crowd, which included the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Olympic swimmer Penny Oleksiak as Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov surprised all watchers and himself in turfing tennis superstar Rafael Nadal from the Rogers Cup. He triumphed in a thrilling third-round match against the tournament’s top seed.
The Canadian teen shocked Nadal 3-6, 6-4,7-6 (4) to advance to the quarter-finals of the tournament. After knocking off world No. 2 Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup on Thursday night, all eyes are on the teenage tennis phenom from Richmond Hill.
The 15-time Grand Slam champion, Spanish star Nadal, suffered a 6-3, 4-6, 6-7 loss to Dennis in the third round in the third round to enter the wild card. If Nadal reached the semifinals, then he would become the world's number one player by overthrowing British player Andy Murray. Dennis also became the youngest player to reach the ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals. Now to make the semi-finals, Dennis will face France's Adrian Manarino, who defeated Hyogo Chung 6-3, 6-3.
In other matches, world number three Roger Federer defeated Spain's David Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 after losing one set. Swiss star will now play in the quarter-finals of Roberto Batista Aguet of Spain, who beat Guy Gayle Manfils of France 4-6, 7-6, 7- 6. Germany's Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3, Nick Kargioos of Australia, Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 6-1, Sam Query of the USA, Diego of Argentina, Gerrard Donaldson of America 0- 6, 7-5, 7-5, and Robin Haas of the Netherlands beat Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov 7-6, 4-6, 6-1.
Who is Denis Shapovalov?
He is the son of Tessa and Viktor Shapovalov, who moved to Canada from Tel Aviv the same year Denis was born. Tessa runs college in Richmond Hill, which opened in 2012. It’s anywhere Shapovalov developed his skills after making his way onto the Tennis Canada radar at age 9. By 13, it was clear he need a team around him to make it to the next stage.
For thorough details, read Rachel Brady’s profile from last summer. In a nutshell, he could be Canada’s next big thing. Last year he won the junior Wimbledon title before making a name for himself by offing the 11th-ranked, Australian Nick Kyrgios, in the round of 64 at the Rogers Cup.
In 2015, he was Canada’s U18 national outside champion, and by this time last year, he had won 3 Futures titles.
He popped up on the radar again in for less desirable reasons in February, when he was fined $7, 000 for smashing a ball into the eye of umpire Arnaud Gabas during a decisive Davis Cup match, ultimately costing Canada a shot at victory over Great Britain
Teen Stuns One Of World’s Top Tennis Players Dreams
Shapovolov become the youngest player to reach the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup since Bjorn Borg in 1974. He’s also the youngest the youngest to beat a player ranked in the top two in the world since Nadal beat Roger Federer in 2004 in Miami.
The Montreal Open started with the hopes of Rafael Nadal regaining the world No.1 ATP place if he managed to achieve the semi-finals, with Raonic or Goffin to be the most possible to stand in his way in the quarter finals. but, the Masters event took an interesting turn when these 2 likely competitors hooked down in the Round of 32. The world had made an assumption- Nadal will be back to world No.1 when the ATP Rankings come out on Monday.