Denis Shapovalov's time at Roland-Garros was short-lived after the Canadian lost 5-7, 7-6(4), 7-5, 6-4 to Germany's Maximilian Marterer in the Round of 64 of the 2018 French Open on Thursday.
It was Shapovalov's earliest exit from a tournament since he lost at the same stage in the Monte-Carlo Masters on April 16. The 19-year-old has been on a roll since then, reaching the Round of 16 in Hungary before a semifinal defeat to world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in Madrid. Shapovalov followed that up with a Round of 16 loss to clay legend and top-ranked Rafael Nadal in Italy, hardly a stain on his growing resumé.
Prior to this spring, Shapovalov had never won a match on clay. His quick learning curve on the surface over the past several weeks mirrored that of his overall career arc since last summer, as the teenager found new ways to compete and win with nearly every passing match.
However, Thursday's first-ever meeting between Shapovalov and Marterer was not one the Canadian will be looking back on fondly. Usually dominant on his serve, Shapovalov struggled with the service game. He offered up a lowly 52 percent first serve and racked up 11 double faults as he did not appear comfortable serving on the clay surface.
Despite his service troubles, Shapovalov claimed the first set. The teenager broke Marterer's serve while up 6-5 to take the set, and he used that momentum to grab a 3-0 lead in the second set.
BOOM. Shapovalov comes out on top of a huuuuuge rally and breaks to take the first set 7-5!
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) May 31, 2018
Not much between him and Marterer early on, but Shapo amped up his level when it matterered most in the set 😏 pic.twitter.com/BNq0zG2Mbo
After saving a few break points in his opening service game, Shapovalov finds an early break in the second set, dictating play with a big inside-in forehand.
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) May 31, 2018
He currently leads 3-0. #GoCanada #Allez
That would be the high point of the day for the Canadian, as Marterer stormed back to take the next five games and ultimately force a tiebreak that the German claimed. The momentum shifted firmly in Marterer's favour, and Shapovalov ended up dropping three straight sets to lose the match.
Poetry in motion 2.0
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) May 31, 2018
(It’s just been one of those days…) pic.twitter.com/2aa2QFMqQp
It was an unceremonious end to the clay season for Shapovalov, who found positivity in his overall growth on the surface over the past few tournaments.
“I feel like in the future I could get really good on [clay]. I’m pretty excited about that,” Shapovalov said after Thursday's match. “I’m pretty excited to come back next year and play all these clay tournaments again.”
A largely successful clay-court campaign comes to an end for 🇨🇦Denis Shapovalov who falls in four sets v 🇩🇪 Marterer pic.twitter.com/NrYEM6vyj8
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 31, 2018
Shapovalov will take the next two weeks off before heading to Stuttgart for the Mercedes Cup ahead of Wimbledon in early July. The shift from clay to grass is a welcome change for the teenager.
Next up for Shapovalov: @MercedesCup in Stuttgart
— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) May 31, 2018
Denis: "Grass is going to be a big part of the season for me. I always enjoyed playing on it. It really suits my game style ... it's a short part of the season, but for me it's the funnest part"