The highly-anticipated all-Canadian #NextGenATP clash between Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday at the US Open ended in unfortunate circumstances. After exchanging 7-5 sets, the 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire midway through the third due to an irregular heartbeat. The No. 28 seed Shapovalov advanced while holding a 7-5, 5-7, 4-1 lead.

Drama was high as Shapovalov stormed back from 2-5 down in the first set and his countryman replicated the feat in the second, rallying to draw level. But after falling behind 4-1 in the third, an emotional Auger-Aliassime stopped play as he embraced his close friend at the net. Shapovalov continued to console a visibly shaken Auger-Aliassime following the match.

“It was definitely a tough way to win,” Shapovalov admitted. “First of all, it was a great match playing against Felix. The level was high at times. At first, I honestly think we were both very tight, and I don’t think the level was great. Then in the second set, I think it was a lot better from both of us. At the beginning, I was playing really good, then towards the end he picked it up. What happened in the third set, it’s tough to see a friend go down like that. It was tough. When I saw that he was struggling, I still had to keep trying to win, keep kind of pounding it on him. It wasn’t easy for me.

“Obviously it’s tough how it ended. But I think this match, it’s great for Canadian tennis, two young guys that are coming up that have grown up together playing against each other. It’s really good. I feel that’s the reason why so many Canadians are picking up tennis racquets.”

Canadian Comfort…

A nice exchange under unfortunate circumstances as @denis_shapo advances to R2 after @felixtennis was forced to retire from their match on Grandstand…

?????#USOpen pic.twitter.com/P0qNWva2LM

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 28, 2018

Shapovalov is trying to repeat the impressive run he went on at Flushing Meadows a year ago, when he beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga en route to the fourth round. The left-hander, who is third in the ATP Race To Milan, is fresh off Round of 16 showings at North American hard-court ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events in Toronto and Cincinnati. He will next face veteran Italian Andreas Seppi. 

“He’s definitely a super steady guy. I wouldn’t say he’s got crazy power, so he’s not going to blow me off the court. He’s really crafty, a really smart player,” Shapovalov said of his next opponent. “He’s another guy that’s got so much experience under his belt. He’s definitely going to be a lot more experienced on the court out there. It’s going to be a tough match for me.”

But for now, fans will take joy in the play they saw between Canada’s two brightest young talents. It might not have ended the way either player wanted it to, but it certainly won’t be their last FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I told him at the net hopefully one day we’ll be playing in the finals of this tournament. I told him to keep his head up. We’re going to have so many matches together,” Shapovalov said. “Obviously it’s never easy playing against him because he’s such a close friend of mine. There’s a lot of noise going on, a lot of hype whenever these matches come around… It’s not easy when you know the person. It’s actually a pretty tough match for both of us. Yeah, it’s been a crazy ride with him. Hopefully it continues.”

Two former Top 25 players in the ATP Rankings played their final matches on Monday at the US Open. Florian Mayer, 34, and Gilles Muller, 35, have decided to hang up their racquets.

Mayer, who won the Gerry Weber Open two years ago as the World No. 192, lost to Croatian Borna Coric in four sets, with his final shot a forehand return that sailed long.

“I’m really proud of my career, it was a great journey and very good memories. Good wins, some tough losses, but I feel good,” Mayer said. “The summer was intense, I played so many tournaments. Now I have time to calm down, to rest and think about what’s coming next.”

Mayer climbed as high as World No. 18, winning 243 tour-level matches in his career. The German tallied 12 victories against Top 10 opponents and captured two ATP World Tour titles. But 2018 has been tough for him, as Mayer finished with a 2-15 tour-level record this campaign.

“Of course I’m a little bit sad because it’s over now. But to be honest, I feel free now,” Mayer said. “It’s a big pressure falling down. It was a long process, my decision to make. And now I feel happy with the decision. This was my last match, I knew it before and it’s fine.

“I’m 34 now, my body’s not at my best level anymore so I had to make some decisions because it’s so hard to play at the professional level 100 per cent if you lose some fitness. It’s so tough to be competitive.”

Meanwhile, Muller was in a tightly contested match against lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego. The Luxembourg star was within two points of victory in the fourth set before eventually succumbing to the Italian in five sets.

“I didn’t think about it. I was just hoping to play a good match, and that was the only thing I wanted to do,” Muller said. “I thought I did, I thought I didn’t play too bad. Obviously the end physically was a bit tough. But overall, I’m happy with my performance today.”

The left-hander, like Mayer, earned two ATP World Tour trophies in his career. And in a way it was fitting that Muller finished at the US Open, where 13 years ago he defeated former World No. 1 Andy Roddick in the first round.

“I felt two different things. One, I was a bit sad because it’s finished now. I was part of this for almost 20 years so for it to end now was maybe a bit sad,” Muller said. “But I’m very happy and looking forward to have a normal life, if you can call it that, and just be home and enjoy the family and spend some time in Luxembourg.”

When Sonego hit an ace out wide to clinch a four-hour, 16-minute triumph, it was the end of the match and the tournament for the veteran. But Muller soon enough will have time to reflect on the nearly two decades he spent on tour.

“In the next few weeks, months, I think I’ll realize what I’ve done, what I’ve accomplished,” Muller said. “I’m pretty sure I’m going to look back and feel proud about what I did.”

The American contingent got off to a strong start at their home Grand Slam on Monday. John Isner and Jack Sock led the charge on Day 1 of the US Open, with both securing straight-set wins.

World No. 11 Isner, the top American in the ATP Rankings, needed one hour and 53 minutes to dispatch countryman Bradley Klahn 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4. The North Carolina native launched 34 winners, including 20 aces, to blast into the second round. A quarter-finalist in 2011, Isner notched his 25th match win at Flushing Meadows.

Next up for the big-serving 33-year-old is Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, who dismissed Peter Gojowczyk 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-1, 7-5. Jarry is making his US Open debut after scoring his first Grand Slam match win at Wimbledon last month. The grandson of former Top 20 star Jaime Fillol Sr., he will face Isner for the first time.

Meanwhile, 18th seed Sock got the party started on Monday with an opening 6-0, 7-6(4), 6-2 victory over Argentina’s Guido Andreozzi. The Nebraska native is hoping to rediscover his top form with a strong run in New York. Having won just six of 21 singles matches this year, the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals contestant scored his first victory of the North American hard-court season.

Sock converted six of 14 break chances for his 10th match win at his home major. He will face either Aljaz Bedene or Nikoloz Basilashvili next. 

“I’m relieved,” Sock said. “You guys follow tennis throughout the year, so you know it’s been a tough road for a little bit here. A little bit for nine months (smiling). It hasn’t been my best result, but that’s why you have a good team, good family, good support system around you to keep me positive. 

“And obviously I love the game. I have loved it my whole life. I wouldn’t be here without the support system I’ve had. So they just kept pushing me. It was only a matter of time I think for it to turn around. I know the level of tennis I can play. It hasn’t shown in every match this year, but one week it was going to turn and I’m glad it’s at least started here. Hopefully I can keep it going.”

Meanwhile, qualifier Collin Altamirano wasn’t as fortunate. Making his first main draw appearance in five years, the American fell to Ugo Humbert 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3. It was the first tour-level match win for the #NextGenATP Frenchman.

It was a scorching late-summer afternoon in New York. The sun set the the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center ablaze, as players continued their final preparations for the 2018 US Open. 

In other words, it was your typical Friday at Flushing Meadows. But, on that day, nothing was ordinary for Jason Kubler.

Three years after making his lone qualifying bid at the hard-court Grand Slam, the 25-year-old Aussie stood inside the gates with his first main draw credential in hand. How did Kubler go from not being able to stand on a hard court to playing in the US Open as a Top 100 player? Not even he knows.

Exactly one year ago, Kubler was outside the Top 900 of the ATP Rankings. Any thoughts of competing here were so distant, they were barely a dream. At the time, the Brisbane native was recovering from a debilitating shoulder injury, the latest setback in his long road to recovery. 

But now, he is a Top 100 player for the first time, up to a career-high No. 98. That’s an 841-spot surge in a span of just one year. For perspective, last year, the biggest boost to the Top 100 was 619 spots by fellow Aussie Matthew Ebden. Literally off the charts.

“The whole year has been full of surprises,” Kubler told ATPWorldTour.com prior to his US Open debut. “This is my first full season playing on all surfaces. Last year, imagine someone saying that I would get a wild card into the Aussie Open. And then they say that I would qualify for Wimbledon. And even after that, I’d get a wild card into the US Open and then I’d be Top 100. It’s just crazy.”

With the US Open not even one day old, the tournament already has its feel-good, compelling narrative. A former junior No. 1 whose career was derailed due to a hereditary knee condition that results in weakened meniscus, Kubler was forced to compete exclusively on clay for many years. But, fully healthy, he has finally made the transition to hard courts and the results have been nothing short of extraordinary.

Behind a pair of ATP Challenger Tour titles on home soil in Traralgon and Playford, both as a qualifier, Kubler opened his hard-court career with a 17-1 mark as the 2018 season got underway. With his victory in Playford, he became the first qualifier to win a title without dropping a set in nine years. And thus far, he is the match wins leader in 2018 at 35-14. Moreover, his wins total on clay: zero. From exclusively competing on the dirt to an unstoppable force on hard, not even Kubler has an explanation for his abrupt change in fortune.

“Traralgon was cool because that was originally where I hurt my knee. That was 10 years ago. Now, 10 years later, I won the title. That was really cool. Then, to win two more titles in Playford and Winnipeg (Canada), there are no words.

“When I was younger, I’d literally touch a hard court and my knee would swell up. Now, I don’t know what’s happening or why it’s happening, but all is fine. I haven’t even gotten any points on clay in more than a year. I’ve played three tournaments this year and I haven’t won a match.”

As for the Top 100 breakthrough itself, the Aussie describes it as a stressful week at the Odlum Brown VanOpen in Vancouver earlier this month. He would reach his third final of the season, saving a match point to defeat Gregoire Barrere 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-2. With Stan Wawrinka concurrently falling to Roger Federer in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals, the win officially sealed Kubler’s Top 100 fate. 

“I actually thought my quarter-final against JC Aragone was going to put me into the Top 100. That’s what some of the Aussie guys were saying. I woke up a bit stressed that day. I remember I was getting cranky. But then I won the match and I found out I was No. 101, because Wawrinka made quarters in Cincy. And Ilya Ivashka was still in the tournament in Vancouver. If Wawrinka beats Federer and Ivashka stays in the tournament, I was thinking that I would have to win the title. 

“But after I had so much stress in that match, I was thinking that I just had to play my game against Barrere. I didn’t think about it. I worked myself up so much with that Aragone match. And now I can say that when I got into the Top 100, I saved a match point to do it.”

Jason Kubler: Conquering His Comfort Zone

Eight years removed from his tour-level debut at the 2010 Australian Open (l. to Ljubicic), Kubler enters Flushing Meadows in search of his first Grand Slam win. He opens against 19th seed Roberto Bautista Agut on Monday, second on Court 7. 

It will be his first match as a Top 100 player and one that the Aussie is relishing more than any other.

“I’m excited for this. I haven’t played Bautista Agut, but I’ll talk to Jordan Thompson because he did. And I’ll ask some of the Aussie coaches. I’m just excited to play best-of-five matches. I did it for the first time in ages in Australia and then at Wimbledon. I’ve played enough where I’m thinking that it’s not brand new to me. At this point, everything is a bonus. I never expected to be where I am and I’m just going to enjoy it.”

No. 36 (Career-High) Daniil Medvedev, +21
The Russian captured his second tour-level title of the season at the Winston Salem Open, defeating American Steve Johnson 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match. Medvedev, who also defeated 15th seed Alex de Minaur in a repeat of the Sydney International final, did not drop a set en route to the title. The 22-year-old climbs 21 positions in the ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 36. Read More & Watch Highlights

View Latest ATP Rankings

No. 31 Steve Johnson, +3
The 28-year-old reached his third tour-level championship match of the season without dropping a set before his loss to Medvedev. Johnson defeated Top 3 seeds Kyle Edmund and Pablo Carreno Busta to reach the final, where he was bidding to become the ninth player since 2010 to claim a tour-level trophy on all three surfaces in one season, and the first American to do so since Sam Querrey in 2010. The American rises three spots to No. 31, with a return to the Top 30, for the first time since 25 June 2017, within touching distance.

No. 42 (Career-High) Nicolas Jarry, +5
The Chilean reached his seventh tour-level quarter-final of the season in Winston-Salem, falling to Taro Daniel of Japan in the last eight. Jarry, who owns a 24-17 tour-level record this season, beat Andreas Seppi and Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets on his debut in North Carolina. The 22-year-old jumps five places to quickly return to a career-high No. 42 position in the ATP Rankings. Jarry first reached the No. 42 spot on 13 August.

Other Notable Top 100 Movers This Week
No. 53 Ryan Harrison, +3
No. 57 Matteo Berrettini, +3
No. 64 Taro Daniel, +12
No. 92 Bradley Klahn, +3