Shapovalov advances to third round of Miami Open with win over Pella
By The Canadian Press on March 24, 2023.
MIAMI – Canada’s Denis Shapovalov has advanced to the third round of the Miami Open tennis tournament with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Argentina’s Guido Pella. Shapovalov scored his third break of the match in the eighth game of the third set when Pella double-faulted on break point. The Canadian then served to love in the deciding game to set up a third-round match between either ninth-seed Taylor Fritz or American wild-card Emilio Nava. The 25th-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., had a bye in the first round. Shapovalov scored an early break to take a 2-0 lead in the first set, then saved a break point and fired an ace on his first set point in the ninth game. Pella scored his first break to take a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Shapovalov earned that break back in the next game. The Argentine broke again to go up 4-2, then served to love in the deciding game to even the match at a set apiece. Shapovalov improved to 2-0 against Pella. The pair last met in the second round of the 2020 Rome Masters. In women’s second-round action on Friday, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., faced Maria Sakkari of Greece while Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was scheduled to play Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. Men’s fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal was set to play a second-round match Saturday against Brazil’s Thiago Monteiro. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2023. 12-11
