#NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov was unafraid of saying that competing against Roger Federer was a dream come true before his clash with the Swiss superstar in the Miami Open presented by Itau semi-finals.

The best part of those dreams is usually seeing your hero across the net, hitting an amazing shot, or possibly even finding a way to triumph.

With a sheepish grin on his face, the teen made his surprising choice: “The warmup.”

That’s because Federer dismissed the lefty in straight sets after just 73 minutes. The 37-year-old broke in his second and third return games of the match to set the tone, and he never gave the Canadian a chance to battle back. Shapovalov still had fun, though.

“It’s always tough to lose, but it’s definitely enjoyable to be out there with your idol on the court,” Shapovalov said. “I gave it all I had. He played a good match today. That’s it. That’s all you can really say.”

Shapovalov has practised with Federer before. But practice and competing in an ATP Masters 1000 semi-final are two entirely different propositions.

“It’s kind of surreal, being on the court against him. Obviously I wasn’t trying to focus on the fact that it’s Roger on the other side,” Shapovalov said. “I was just trying to play as good as I can, and he did a good job today. He played an excellent match. I wasn’t able to kind of stay at his level. So I’m just going to try to learn from this and move forward.”

The three-time Masters 1000 semi-finalist did well throughout the tournament to impose his athletic, attacking game, showing no fear in unleashing his forehand and coming to net. But he showed his nerves early on with a number of errors, and that was not what he had in mind strategically.

“Try to hit four aces a game and hope he double [faults],” Shapovalov said, kidding. “There is a couple of things that I was trying to do out there that I talked [about] with my team. But honestly, I was just trying to play my game and just be myself on court.

“Honestly I don’t think I was able to play at 100 per cent of my level today, but that’s why he’s so good. He didn’t let me get into my groove and get into my game… it shows how experienced and how good he is.”

While it was clear that Federer was in control throughout the match, Shapovalov did not get too down on himself. In the second set, he hit a forehand stab volley for a winner right on the line that drew applause from the crowd, and the Canadian then waved his arms to try to have people cheer even louder.

“I was just trying to kind of get into the match. Obviously I started off a little bit tight. He started off pretty strong in the first. So in the second set I tried to turn it around. Had a couple chances. Wasn’t able to convert,” Shapovalov said. “I did what I could. And with that moment, it was just kind of a fun moment. I hit a ridiculous volley. I think even he said, ‘No way,’ or something. I just tried to get the crowd involved. Just have a little bit of fun.”

Federer is into his record 50th Masters 1000 final. The Swiss may not have served his best — landing just 49 per cent of his first serves — but he produced a tidy performance, winning all but two of those points (20/22) to lead the way to victory.

“I just think he has every shot mastered. When he needs a shot, he’s going to make it,” Shapovalov said. “He’s going to go for it, he’s going to make it. I don’t think he has any weaknesses. That’s why he’s the GOAT [greatest of all-time].”

Shapovalov may leave Miami disappointed, as he was just two victories from lifting his maiden ATP Tour trophy. But on Monday he will crack the Top 20 of the ATP Rankings, and he will hope to carry the momentum into the clay season.

“It’s a good part of the season for me, I think. I think I have proven myself on the dirt. I see that I can play on it and beat good players on it. So I’m really looking forward to it,” Shapovalov said. “Obviously it’s a little bit of a different change of pace. Going to have to play a little bit differently than these couple of weeks. Yeah, I’m looking forward to it. I have had good success last year. It’s going to be a good opportunity for me.”

Canadian Denis Shapovalov had been looking forward to playing Roger Federer practically his entire life. Before the match, he called it “a dream come true”. The 19-year-old, however, didn’t envision their semi-final going like it did on Friday night at the Miami Open presented by Itau.

The Canadian was nervous to start, and that was more than Federer needed as the three-time champion delivered another near-perfect performance at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Swiss glided around court and hit winners all match, cruising to his fifth Miami final – his 50^th at the ATP Masters 1000 level – 6-2, 6-4 and will face American John Isner for a chance at his 28^th Masters 1000 crown. The defending champion Isner beat 18-year-old Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6(3), 7-6(4) earlier Friday.

“I enjoyed it. I think I played very well. I had to. Because I think when you let Denis play, he’s got some serious power, and he gets rhythm going. He can really put you in uncomfortable situations,” Federer said. “So I think I did well, and I’m very happy how I played.”

Federer leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Isner 5-2, including a straight-sets win during the 2012 BNP Paribas Open final. Isner, however has yet to drop a set this fortnight and is 9-0 in tie-breaks.

Shapovalov was on the board early, despite the nerves that can come with playing your idol for the first time. But the good feelings didn’t last, as Federer broke in the third game when Shapovalov shanked a backhand.

The teenager finished the opener with 20 unforced errors. Federer, meanwhile, picked up where he finished with Kevin Anderson on Thursday night, smacking crosscourt forehand winners and pressuring Shapovalov to pass. The Swiss hit only four unforced errors in the opener.

Read More: Federer Ready For Goalie Duty Against Isner

Shapovalov came back from a set down three times to reach the semi-finals, including during his quarter-final against #NextGenATP American Frances Tiafoe. And the Canadian held to start the second. But Federer broke in the third game again and served his way into the final.

“It’s surreal, being on the court against him,” Shapovalov said. “Obviously I wasn’t trying to focus on the fact that it’s Roger on the other side. I was just trying to play as good as I can, and he did a good job today. He played an excellent match. I wasn’t able to kind of stay at his level. I’m just going to try to learn from this and move forward.”

The 37-year-old Federer has now reached the most Masters 1000 finals in history with 50 (27-22). Spain’s Rafael Nadal has made 49 finals at the prestigious level (33-16).

Federer will go for title No. 101 against Isner, after having won his 100th title earlier this month at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships (d. Tsitsipas).

Five-time champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan saved four match points on Friday to reach the final of the Miami Open presented by Itau, defeating top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo 7-6(7), 6-7(8), 14-12 in a two-hour, 28-minute thriller.

The roller coaster of a battle had plenty of twists and turns, with Kubot ultimately double-faulting at 12-13, allowing the 40-year-old twins to triumph on their sixth match point. Kubot and Melo won 94 points to the Bryan brothers’ 93, but the Americans are into their seventh Miami final.

“Our nerves were a little shocked. I think it was a roller coaster. Obviously a tough team that’s given us trouble in the past. A lot of great shots by everyone, a lot of nerves by everyone. The crowd was going crazy,” Bob said. “That brought out some great focus in us. We stayed tough through some really trying times. It would have been easy to lose our heads there. But I think we’re playing some great tennis. We’re really happy to be in the finals.”

This is the defending champions’ first ATP Masters 1000 final as a team since Bob underwent a right hip replacement last August. Mike triumphed at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Nitto ATP Finals last year with countryman Jack Sock. And after the brothers reunited in January, they claimed their first title since Bob’s injury in Delray Beach.

Throughout the match, Bob showed no hesitation, even diving on a couple crucial points. When the siblings completed their trademark post-win chest bump on Friday, it was Bob who leapt higher.

“He’s in a great frame of mind. He’s got his little kids on the court after the match,” Mike said. “Bob’s bleeding from his hand. He dove on a couple big points and he was ripping his pantyhose as we call them. But we gave everything we had out there. Happy to be in another Miami final.” 

“The hip didn’t dislocate. That metal’s pretty in there, so the cement’s not giving out,” Bob said. “Just don’t know what to expect. I’m getting better with every match and hopefully can keep improving, but we didn’t think we’d be here at this stage.”

Bryan/Bryan will face a new challenge in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Wesley Koolhof. Tsitsipas, the reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, may be inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings. But entering this tournament, he had only won three tour-level doubles matches in his career (3-12).

But the #NextGenATP Greek and Koolhof, a Dutchman, have enjoyed a tremendous run in South Florida. On Friday they defeated Ivan Dodig and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-8.

“We started playing together in Indian Wells, lost a close first round against Kubot-Melo in a Match Tie-break. We said, ‘Let’s try again in Miami,’ and we’ve pretty much exceeded our expectations,” said Koolhof, who had never won a Masters 1000 match before this event. “It’s an amazing feeling to be in tomorrow’s final here.”

For maybe the first time all tournament, Felix Auger-Aliassime didn’t know what to do or what to say.

Double faults crippled the 18-year-old’s chances of serving out the first and second sets against defending champion John Isner during their Miami Open presented by Itau semi-final on Friday.

And Auger-Aliassime, who has had every answer on the court and off it during his historic semi-final run, was somewhat speechless as he tried to describe what happened.

“It’s a chance you can’t miss, serving two times for the set, and just, I don’t know. It’s just terrible,” said Auger-Aliassime, who lost 7-6(3), 7-6(4).

“For sure, nerves. It’s like I caught a virus or something. I don’t know. I couldn’t put a second serve anymore. Even the first serve, if you put it in, you don’t have to hit the second serve. Yeah, that’s just very tough to swallow.”

It shouldn’t, however, take the #NextGenATP Canadian long to reflect on his maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final run and realise just what he has achieved.

Auger-Aliassime became the youngest semi-finalist in the tournament’s 35-year history. The qualifier won seven matches and knocked off Dominic Thiem’s conqueror Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, 17^th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia and 11^th seed Borna Coric of Croatia.

“It was a very good tournament for Felix, that’s what we have to remember. And of course, he will learn from this kind of match. It’s another experience. But congrats to John because he was able to come back twice,” Frederic Fontang, one of Auger-Aliassime’s coaches, told ATP Radio.

The Canadian became the first teenager to make the Miami semi-finals since 19-year-olds Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray played in the 2007 semi-finals. And Auger-Aliassime also will be the first player born in the 2000s to break into the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings. He’s currently No. 57 but is projected to climb to around No. 33 when the new rankings are released on Monday.

“The biggest lesson was to stay in the present and believe in yourself, because you can always dig deep and find resources within yourself. So I think that’s a huge lesson to not give up, stay calm, and just work every day,” Auger-Aliassime said.

The teenager didn’t think fatigue got the best of him, despite his seven matches coming into the semi-final. It was just a case of the nerves, he said, and he’s already eager for another opportunity.

“I didn’t feel like it was the focus or concentration. I just felt like the nerves got to me a little. I wasn’t able to do like all the other matches and just focus on what I had to do, and it really got to me too hard,” he said.

“I felt like I was connecting a few good returns. I still broke him twice, which is not easy. I felt like my return game was good today, but obviously he puts a lot of pressure on your serve. And even on second serves he goes around, hits hard. So I have to figure out a way to get better on that and try to handle him better next time.”

John Isner spoke of #NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime’s bright future ahead of their Miami Open presented by Itau semi-final on Friday afternoon. But Isner wouldn’t let the Canadian’s growing stardom stop his dream of a title defence, halting Felix’s impressive run with a hard-earned 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory, extending his tie-break record in the tournament to 9-0 to reach the championship match. 

Last year in Miami, at Crandon Park, Isner became the oldest first-time ATP Masters 1000 champion. And while the tournament moved to a new venue, at Hard Rock Stadium, the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals qualifier has shown equally good tennis, advancing to the final — against three-time champion Roger Federer of #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov — without dropping a set.

The key to the match was Auger-Aliassime’s inability to close out either set on his serve. Those moments were perhaps the only time this tournament that Felix appeared his age, 18, with double faults proving costly in the crucial moments. And once the defending champion battled to tie-breaks, momentum was on his side, and he rode those mini-waves to more tie-break success. Entering the tournament, he was just 7-10 in tour-level tie-breaks this year.

Isner also will retain his spot inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings thanks to his efforts. The American earned 1,000 points with his title last year, so he needed to make at least the final to guarantee that he would not drop from the elite group. The World No. 9 will move up one spot to No. 8 if he captures his second Masters 1000 trophy.

Auger-Aliassime, the first qualifier to reach the Miami semi-finals since Guillermo Canas in 2007, remained calm and focused through the match’s first nine games, playing aggressive-but-controlled tennis from the baseline to dominate early action, breaking for 4-3. But Felix hit his first three double faults of the match — all into the net — as he tried to close out the opener, allowing Isner back into the set. 

While Isner began to put many more returns into play towards the end of the first set and at the beginning of the second, Auger-Aliassime was still able to earn the advantage. The teen camped on a backhand return at 3-2 in the Ad court, elicitng a forehand shank from the American to earn a break for 4-2. But serving for the set at 5-3, a double fault long gave Isner two opportunities to get back on serve, and after dismissing the first chance, Auger-Aliassime hit a swinging volley into the net to allow the 6’10” right-hander back on serve.

Isner, who had only been broken twice in 48 service games in the tournament before this semi-final, was broken twice by the young Canadian. But he added 21 aces to his tournament-leading tally of 98 to advance after one hour and 53 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime was trying to become the youngest Masters 1000 finalist since Michael Chang at Toronto in 1990. The teenager was already the youngest semi-finalist in Miami tournament history. Felix will become the first player born in the 2000s to crack the Top 50 of the ATP Rankings on Monday, when he moves to a career-high of around No. 33.

Did You Know?
– Twelve of Isner’s 14 ATP Tour titles have come in the United States. The American lifted his other two trophies in Auckland.
– Felix entered this match 5-0 against opposition inside the Top 20.