Canada's Denis Shapovalov plays a shot against Brandon Nakashima of the U.S. during their first round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Monday, May 29, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Aurelien Morissard
PARIS – Canada’s Denis Shapovlaov has advanced to the third round at the French Open for the first time with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi.
To go any further, he’ll need to get past world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.
Shapovalov wrapped up Wednesday’s win with his fifth break of the match. He set up match point with a powerful service return down the middle that Arnaldi couldn’t handle cleanly, then won when the Italian hit the ball well out of bounds for his 41st unforced error.
The men’s No. 26 seed from Richmond Hill, Ont., had a less strenuous outing against Arnaldi compared to his marathon session with Brandon Nakashima in the first round.
Shapovalov lost serve just once on the only break point he faced Wednesday while scoring five breaks on 16 chances in a match that lasted two hours 55 minutes.
That set up Shapovalov’s first career meeting with Alcaraz, who beat Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 6-2.
Later Wednesday, Leylah Fernandez looked to join Shapovalov in the third round when she faced Denmark’s Clara Tauson in women’s action.
In first-round women’s doubles play, the eighth-seeded team of Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowsi and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani defeated Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto and Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-2, 6-2.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 31, 2023.
