What’s been the secret to Denis Shapovalov’s success in Quebec this season? “Maybe it’s the poutine,” said the Canadian with a laugh of the Quebecois dish, ahead of the Coupe Rogers. 

The 18 year old won 13 straight matches in the Canadian province, picking up a pair of ATP Challenger titles in Drummondville and Gatineau, before the run came to an end last week in the Grandby semi-finals (l. to Polansky). On Tuesday afternoon in Montreal, with Wayne Gretzky watching from his box, Shapovalov collected another W in Quebec as he saved four match points en route to victory over Rogerio Dutra Silva on Court Central.

“It’s pretty crazy, the Challengers that I’ve won have been in home in Canada,” said Shapovalov. “Obviously the support has a really good effect on me. My best results have been at home, and it’s thanks to the crowd and thanks to the people that are helping me out, getting me ready at home, just giving me that extra little bit of court time. I love playing at home and I always feel like I bring my best game here.”

Case in point, last year’s Rogers Cup in Toronto provided the stage for his first tour-level win. Shapovalov, who grew up watching and attending this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament, requested to play on Centre Court in his main draw debut and delivered a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 upset over No. 11 seed Nick Kyrgios in the opening round.

“It was huge for me… I didn’t expect to win obviously,” he said. “I think in the first set he might’ve been taking me a little bit lightly, but I stuck with him and it turned out to be an unbelievable match. I remember that feeling when I won and the roar of the crowd. It was an unforgettable moment for me, and I’ve taken that everywhere I go, that confidence, just the thought that I could be there and I’ve played better since.”

Federer remembers watching Shapovalov play in the Wimbledon juniors and also had a chance to practise with the teen a few years ago in Toronto, when he needed a lefty for a hitting partner. “He came out, had these big shots, great sliding serve and a lot of different types of shots, and I like to see that,” said the Swiss. “I’m a big fan of his, and I’m sure we’re going to see a lot of Denis in the future.”

Shapovalov had set a goal earlier this year of reaching the Top 150 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, but is now aiming higher – Top 100 – with his recent success pushing him to a career-high No. 130 in July. He also has his sights set on the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals, which will feature the top 21-and-under singles players on the ATP World Tour. Shapovalov entered Montreal at No. 11 in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan.

“With the two past weeks with the Challengers I’ve really made a push for it. I think I’m sitting [around] No. 10 right now, so I’m really close to getting in,” he said. “Honestly it’d be a great privilege to go and play that… I hope at the end of the year I can be a part of it.”

A relaxed Nick Kyrgios is taking it all in his stride this week, agreeing to hit with a Twitter fan in a fun-filled practice session in Montreal on Tuesday before playing a game of horse with fellow Australian Matt Reid. The 16th seed at for the Coupe Rogers has struggled with hip and right shoulder injuries since 30 May.

But he has been at ease from the outset this week. He landed his first match win in more than two months on Monday with a comprehensive defeat of Serbian Viktor Troicki. And the fun, it appeared, didn’t stop there for the Australian. The latest spontaneous turn of events came about when a fan, Mathieu Marshall, tweeted Kyrgios on Saturday.

“@NickKyrgios I’m at rogers cup on tuesday, I know this is a long shot but could we hit for 5 minutes if you’re practicing? That’d be dope!” Marshall tweeted. Kyrgios was quick to reply.

“Sure, hit me up when u there,” he tweeted. The move drew plenty of love in the Twittersphere as Kyrgios followed up with a further offer.

“Also anyone at rogers cup throughout the week can come on my practice court and chill and hit if u want,” he tweeted. True to his word, Kyrgios hit with the fan during a practice session on Tuesday.

Sure, hit me up when u there https://t.co/Kxn8MAo3NN

— Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) August 6, 2017

“I tweeted you – I didn’t know what would happen!” @NickKyrgios is a man of his word, hitting with the fan who contacted him on Twitter pic.twitter.com/h1J93zvMv2

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 8, 2017

“Yeah I think it’s fun. To have a big following, I never dreamed of that as a little kid, people actually wanting to come and watch me play or wanting to hang out so obviously when I’m out here playing some tennis, if they want to have a hit, I’m more than happy to bring them on and just have some fun,” Kyrgios said.

“He had his racquet and he was ready to go. He was on the side of the court, he said ‘Nick you owe my five minutes’. He was pretty direct. I was like ‘man, come on whenever you want’ and we had a lot of fun today.

“He was pretty good as well. I actually used it as a bit of training. It’s always fun, if I’m able to make someone’s day even for five minutes then I’m happy to do it.”

After later losing a practice set against his countryman, Reid, Kyrgios nervously crouched in the ‘tuck position’, for a game of horse. Reid unleashed three serves with the third hitting the bullseye, clocking Kyrgios square and centre.

It sent him sprawling to the surface and drew laughs from both men and the crowd. “Sorry mate,” Reid later tweeted, before replying, “Haha yeah just showing him who’s boss. He got me back though”.

Sorry mate ? https://t.co/Ki1NDdHQ2G

— Matt Reid (@MattReid12345) August 8, 2017

Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau will meet top seeds Henri Kontinen and John Peers after getting their Coupe Rogers campaign off to a winning start on Tuesday. The Dutch-Romanian pair eked out a narrow 7-6(7), 7-5 victory over Mexican Santiago Giraldo and American Donald Young.

Rojer and Tecau have split their two FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings with the Finnish-Australian duo. They defeated them in their most recent clash this year, en route to the title in Dubai in March.

Spanish compatriots Roberto Bautista Agut and David Ferrer denied home hopefuls Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil 46, 6-4, 10-2. The unseeded pair ended Nestor’s bid to claim an elusive Coupe Rogers doubles crown in Montreal.

Twice before Nestor had claimed the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in Toronto (2000 with Lareau, 2008 with Zimonjic) but never had he triumphed in Montreal. Bautista Agut and Ferrer will next face No. 6 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram for a place in the quarter-finals.

Scratch pairing Juan Martin del Potro and Grigor Dimitrov landed a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus. The win sets a second-round meeting with five-time Coupe Rogers champions Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.

A couple of all-French pairings had impressive first-round wins on Tuesday. Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-3, 6-4, while Gael Monfil and Benoit Paire took down Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas.  

Dogged Argentine Diego Schwartzman simply does not know how to surrender. The 24 year old saved four match points to pull off a remarkable 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5 upset of No. 3 seed Dominic Thiem on Tuesday night.

After an impressive start in which he found himself up a set and a break, the No. 36 in the Emirates ATP Rankings looked to have botched his lead when Thiem levelled the match on his fifth set point of the second-set tie-break.

The 23-year-old Austrian looked to have turned the tables when he surged to 5-2 in the deciding set. But Schwartzman was not done yet. He saved two match points on serve at 3-5, another when Thiem served for the match and a fourth when he was serving to stay alive for 5-5.

With the momentum swing now well in his favour, Schwartzman broke to serve for the match. But the nerves soon took hold. A wayward double fault did not help his cause as he slipped behind 0-40. But this was not to be Thiem’s day.

Schwartzman reeled off the last five points of the match to inflict Thiem’s fourth straight Coupe Rogers loss at the first hurdle.

The Austrian’s 67 unforced errors and eight doubles faults made for a tough night. It was Schwartzman’s first defeat of a Top 10 opponent in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 14 attempts.

Earlier, Jack Sock rallied from a break down in the opening set to post a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert. The American sent down five aces and saved all five break points in the one-hour, 28-minute affair.

Sock was coming off a semi-final run at last week’s Citi Open in Washington, D.C. before he fell to Kevin Anderson. He leads the ATP World Tour with 23 wins on hard-courts this season.

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for day 3 of the Coupe Rogers & vote for who you think will win!
Nadal vs. Coric | Raonic vs. Mannarino | Nishikori vs. Monfils

View Wednesday Schedule and check back later for preview notes.

A four-time ATP World Tour champion already this season, 20-year-old Alexander Zverev is used to hearing the “next big thing” label thrown his way. Fresh from securing the Citi Open trophy in Washington, D.C on Sunday, the #NextGenATP German enters the Coupe Rogers with a top-four seeding at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event for the first time.

He is well on track to qualify for both the ATP World Tour Finals and the Next Gen ATP Finals. Not that it has come as any real surprise.

“I think ‘surprised’ is the wrong word,” Zverev said. “I know how much I’ve done in the off-season. I know how much work I’ve put in with my whole team.

“Obviously the Rome title was a big one. I didn’t expect it. You know, I knew that I could beat the best players in the world, and I’ve shown that over several weeks this year. I’m happy where I am.

 “But the season doesn’t stop now. It’s only August. There’s still a lot more tennis ahead of us, and we’ll see where I can be at the end of the season.”

Zverev earned the biggest win of his career when he defeated then No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic, to land the biggest title of his career at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome. The man also dubbed as the “next big thing”, Dominic Thiem, went on to defeat Djokovic en route to the semi-finals at Roland Garros.

Zverev said the pair was working hard to close the gap on the Big Four. A major breakthrough for either player could well be on the horizon.

“We’re not too far away,” Zverev said. “I think both of us have shown that. We’ve won big tournaments this year.

“I’ve had and Dominic has had great matches in five sets against those kind of guys. He beat Novak in Paris. I lost to Nadal in five sets in Australia. That shows we’re not far away.

“There’s little things. In important moments maybe they do stuff better. Maybe they’re experienced, as well. They’ve been on tour, you know, Rafa 12 years, Roger, whatever, 16, 17 years. That has an influence on it, as well.”

The German fell at the opening hurdle at the Coupe Rogers last season. He will face Frenchman Richard Gasquet in his opening match in Montreal.

It would be the first step in what could become a clash of the generations in the semi-finals. Top seed Nadal is drawn to meet Zverev, while second seed Federer could meet the No. 3 seed Thiem.

“Dominic [and I], we’re No. 7 and No. 8 in the world, we’re doing well this season. Roger and Rafa will most likely finish No. 1 and No. 2 in the world. It still shows they’re playing on such a high level,” Zverev said.

“But, if we get to the semi-finals, and I play Rafa, and Dominic plays Roger, it is going to be an interesting match-up. We’ll see what generation can win that.”