What a difference a week – and saving match points – makes!

Denis Shapovalov emerged as the talk of Canada and the tennis world this week after his breathtaking run to the semi-finals of the Coupe Rogers in Montreal. But had he not saved four match points in the opening round against Rogerio Dutra Silva, the 18 year old would be battling in relative obscurity next week at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Vancouver, still at around No. 150 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

History will show that Shapovalov fought off those four match points, then beat Grand Slam champions Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to the Montreal semi-finals, where he pushed World No. 8 Alexander Zverev to 6-4, 7-5. That result will see him move inside the Top 70 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on Monday. Talk about a game changer!

“I don’t even think I realise it yet; it’s a huge jump from 144 to 67,” Shapovalov said. “My whole life has changed in the past five days. It’s crazy how it is. I go from being not known to being so known in the tennis world, in Canada in general. It’s going to be a little bit of a change to me. I’m going to have to adapt…

“On TV, I wasn’t expecting to hear my name every two minutes. It’s like, ‘All right, guys, enough, enough (smiling). It’s quite a change going from just being a junior coming up to kind of now people consider that I’ve made the transition…  regardless, this is one week. It’s just a small part of this season. I still have to work really hard. I still have so many aspects of the game I can improve.”

But if you think the new-found fame will change the left-hander, think again. Shapovalov says those closest to him will help him to keep life in perspective.

“I think personally I’m very lucky because I come from a very humble family that went through a pretty tough life. Not terrible life, but they had to work for a living and stuff. I have two parents that are always going to keep me grounded. My brother is going to do the same. No matter who I play against, he’s always on top of me just making sure I don’t get too big.

“Obviously it’s a little bit of a change for them, as well. My mom’s club is getting so much publicity because of this. They even had a bunch of news reporters come out, just randomly showed up. It was weird. They just had a camp. All of a sudden there’s all these news reporters showing up. It’s a little bit of a change for all of us. But we’ll get through it together.”

By reaching the Montreal semi-finals, Shapovalov will on Monday slash his Emirates ATP Ranking in half. That opens the door to the big time and, in the near future, direct entry to the ATP World Tour tournaments of his choice. However, in the short term he has a couple of decisions to make. Will he travel cross-country to stick with his plans to play in the Vancouver Challenger? Or will he rest up and focus on playing US Open qualifying?

“A lot’s changed in the past five days. [I was supposed to play] a lot of Challengers, a little bit of ATPs, try to get me into the Top 100. Now since I’m going to be around 67, I feel like it’s going to be a little bit more ATPs and maybe a couple of Challengers. I have to talk with the team. It depends on how I’m feeling, how I’m playing.”

In reflecting on his breakout week, Shapovalov said that everything was still sinking in. “It was a dream week for me. Obviously, I didn’t expect it. Saved four match points the first round, just played loose after that, just went with it. I mean, I beat one of my idols [Nadal].

“I’ve kind of seen that I’m capable to push these guys. I went pretty tight with Tomas, took out Kyle on grass. I think maybe the serve is getting bigger. That could be from the racquet change. As soon as I went to Yonex, I felt that little bit more pop on my serve and my forehand. Yeah, I have more feel with the racquet. So it could be that.

“I just think I’m improving every week. I’m playing a lot, but I’m also working a lot with Marty [Laurendeau]. This is still a transition year for me. I’m really trying to improve my game so that I can anchor myself in the Top 50, Top 20, Top 10.”

View FedEx ATP Head2Head matchups for the Coupe Rogers Final & vote for who you think will win!
Federer vs. Zverev

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Roger Federer can add another milestone to his memorable season on Sunday when he meets Alexander Zverev for the Coupe Rogers championship. A win would tie Federer with Ivan Lendl for second in the Open Era with 94 ATP World Tour titles. Only Jimmy Connors owns more with 109.

Should he win his third Coupe Rogers title (first in Montreal), Federer will secure a Top 2 seed at the US Open and control his own destiny in next week’s race for the No. 1 ranking. See below for all scenarios as Federer and Rafael Nadal battle in Cincinnati for the top spot in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

IF ROGER FEDERER WINS MONTREAL TITLE

* Note: Federer wins the tiebreaker for No. 1 if both men are tied with 7,555 points.

IF ROGER FEDERER LOSES IN MONTREAL FINAL

Federer is 5-0 in finals and 35-2 overall this season, holding match point in all 37 of his matches. He has earned 16 straight victories to equal his longest win streak since 2012. Zverev is on a nine-match unbeaten run of his own, boosting him to a career-high 45 victories in 2017.

The 20-year-old German is 4-1 in 2017 finals, losing only to Federer 6-1, 6-3 in 53 minutes at Halle on 25 June. Should he avenge that loss, Zverev would tie Federer for the most ATP World Tour titles this year.

Zverev is the youngest Coupe Rogers finalist since Novak Djokovic won the Montreal title in 2007. He is hoping to join Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as the second active player other than the Big Four of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray to win multiple Masters 1000 titles.

Zverev is also bidding to become the 11th champion this season who saved match point en route to a title. The German fought off three match points against Richard Gasquet in his opener.

EMIRATES ATP RANKING POINTS AND PRIZE MONEY

INFOSYS ATP SCORES & STATS

Looking for a glimpse into the future of the ATP World Tour? The stars of tomorrow put on a dazzling display under the lights on Saturday at the Coupe Rogers, as Alexander Zverev defeated Denis Shapovalov for a spot in the final.

The #NextGenATP showdown went the way of the fourth-seeded German 6-4, 7-5, who reached his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final of the year (won Rome title). He will play for a fifth title overall in 2017 against Roger Federer on Sunday.

Zverev’s victory was a historic one, as the World No. 8 became the first to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, to be held from 7-11 November. The top seven players in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan qualify, with the eighth spot reserved for a wild card.

More: Zverev Qualifies

Zverev silenced a packed, partisan Court Central crowd, but it was far from a routine victory. Shapovalov gave the Montreal faithful plenty to cheer for with his spirited exuberance.

“I told him he had a great run, well done to him, to not worry too much that he lost today,” said Zverev. “I also told him that this is just the first match of very, very many that we will play against him. Hopefully a lot of other big matches, maybe in Grand Slams, maybe in finals of tournaments. I just told him that this is the beginning for him.”

Zverev had too much firepower in the big moments. In previous matches this week, Shapovalov used his kicking forehand to drive his opponents back and set up his devastating backhand finish. At 6’6″, Zverev refused to be pushed around. The German forced the Canadian off the baseline with deep, penetrating groundstrokes and a blistering cross-court backhand winner would give him his first break points at 4-4. A Shapovalov double fault handed Zverev the break and he would close out the set one game later.

It was a nervy start to the second set for both players, with Shapovalov broken on four unforced errors to open proceedings and Zverev broken back with two straight misfired groundstrokes. The 18-year-old Richmond Hill native would dig deep to earn a pair of clutch holds, including one from 0/40 down at 4-4. But a double fault while facing break point at 5-5 earned Zverev the decisive break.

A 16-point final game was a fitting punctuation mark. Shapovalov turned aside a pair of match points, while Zverev denied three break points. A backhand pulled wide would seal it for the German, who claimed the first FedEx ATP Head2Head clash in one hour and 43 minutes. Their meeting was the youngest semi-final on the ATP World Tour since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori defeated 20-year-old Sam Querrey in Delray Beach in 2008.

Zverev is now up to 45 wins on the season, tying his career-high from 2016 and is just two shy of Rafael Nadal’s tour-leading 47 victories in 2017. At 20 years, three months, he is the youngest Coupe Rogers finalist since Novak Djokovic won the 2007 title. Moreover, he has won nine matches in 11 days, having sprinted to the Citi Open title one week ago.

On Sunday, the fourth seed will clash against second seed Federer in what will be their third FedEx ATP Head2Head battle. The Swiss owns a 2-1 lead, including a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory in this year’s Gerry Weber Open final. 

“I think he’s definitely the favourite,” added Zverev. “He’s been playing amazing tennis. He pretty much won every single big tournament he played this year. I feel like I’m playing well, so I know that I have to serve a lot better tomorrow than I did today. That was I think the thing that I struggled the most with today.

“But, you know, I played in five finals this year. I won four. The one that I lost was against Roger. There’s a reason for it. I’m happy to be in the final. I’ll try to enjoy as much as I can.”

Despite seeing his dream run come to an end, Shapovalov will hold his head high after a breakthrough week at his home ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. The 18-year-old Canadian became the youngest player to reach a Masters 1000 semi-final and will break into the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, projected to rise to No. 67. His run to the semi-finals gave the home fans plenty of reason to cheer as the future of Canadian tennis was on full display with signature upsets of Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal. Shapovalov is schedule to feature at next week’s ATP Challenger Tour event in Vancouver, which is set to get underway on Monday.

“It’s a little bit disappointing, this loss today, because I felt like I had a chance, but Sascha played too good in the big moments,” said Shapovalov. “I don’t think I played that well in those moments. I gave away a lot of breaks with double faults. I wasn’t even letting him play those points.

“But credit to him, he’s playing with so much confidence. He really put the pressure on me. I don’t think it’s going to affect my week. I mean, I’ve had the week of my life. Sascha is an unbelievable player. Actually it’s pretty nice to see how my game matches up against him, to see that I can compete with a great player like him.”

If Roger Federer was warming up earlier this week in Montreal, the second seed hit a higher gear on Saturday afternoon during his semi-final against Robin Haase at the Coupe Rogers.

The Swiss right-hander struck “Are you kidding?” backhand passes and was untouchable on serve on Court Central. He dropped only nine points on serve (45/54) and hit 28 winners, including nine aces, against Haase, who was playing in his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 semi-final.

But the 30-year-old Dutchman was eager for the fight, pushing Federer to a second-set tie-break before the all-time great advanced 6-3, 7-6(5) to reach the Montreal title match. The 36 year old will be going for his third Canadian Masters 1000 crown (2004, 2006 in Toronto) and his 27^th Masters 1000 title.

But he has never won the Canadian Masters in Montreal. If he wins on Sunday, he’ll have won a tour-level crown in 31 cities. Federer will meet #NextGenATP German Alexander Zverev or #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov in the final, which will be Federer’s sxith of the season. He has now won 16 consecutive matches.

The Swiss right-hander owns a 2-1 advantage against Zverev in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, including a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the Gerry Weber Open final in Halle in June. Federer has never faced Shapovalov, who’s the youngest Masters 1000 semi-finalist (since 1990).

Earlier in the week, Federer talked about struggling to implement his aggressive game plan. In the third round, he dropped the opening set against Spaniard David Ferrer, a player he’s now beaten 17 consecutive times.

But Federer was sharp from the start against Haase, breaking twice for a 3-1 lead. He served out the set to 15.

Haase, though, who’s hitting top form after battling injuries for years, refused to back down. The right-hander tidied up his service games, striking eight aces and never facing a break point in the second set. But Federer found his way through the tie-break, advancing to the his third Masters 1000 final of the season when Haase lifted a forehand long.

Next week at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Federer will go head-to-head with rival Rafael Nadal to see which player will replace Andy Murray as World No. 1 on August 21.

Rohan Bopanna and Ivan Dodig saved two match points on Saturday at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal to reach their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final as a team. The Indian/Croatian pairing hit 10 aces to advance 4-6, 7-6(8), 11-9 against South African Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram of the U.S.

Klaasen/Ram, who were looking to make their second Masters 1000 title match (Indian Wells), held match points at 7/6 and 8/7 in the second-set tie-break, but Bopanna/Dodig won the final three points to force the Match Tie-break.

Bopanna/Dodig are playing together for only the second time. They reached the semi-finals of the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club in June. Dodig, partnering with Marcelo Melo, won the Montreal doubles title last year.

Fifth seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut face eighth seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic in the second doubles semi-final.