DELRAY BEACH --- Before this week’s Delray Beach Open teen phenom Denis Shapovalov said his goals for 2018 were to improve every week and win his first ATP title.
Well, he can check off the first box, but he came up a tad short when the charismatic Canadian ran into American Next Gen counterpart Frances Tiafoe, who had too much firepower and guile in a 7-5, 6-4 semifinal victory Saturday night at the Delray Beach Tennis Center.
So instead of Shapovalov playing his first ATP final Sunday, he will be flying to Acapulco where he will be tested in a first-round match against former No. 4 Kei Nishikori, now ranked 26th, and in the early stages of a comeback from a serious wrist injury sustained at last summer’s Rogers Cup.
Of course, that’s the same tournament where Shapovalov’s stock soared with wins over former grand slam champions Juan Martin del Potro and then second-ranked Rafael Nadal en route to the semifinals.
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Ironically, Nishikori was 18, the same age as Shapovalov, when the Japanese star announced his arrival with his first title at Delray Beach Open in 2008.
While Shapovalov’s ranking will improve one spot to a career-best 45th, he fell short of overtaking his oft-injured countryman Milos Raonic, who after a second-round loss to American Steve Johnson drops to 40, as the top-ranked Canadian.
“It definitely sucks to lose but give Frances credit,’’ said Shapovalov, who wasn’t satisfied with reaching his second career semifinal. “He played extremely well. He’s been hot all week beating unbelievable players. He was the more dominant player for sure today.
“It’s disappointing but it’s been a great week for me. I’m going to take the positives and keep going forward.’’
Shapovalov, who hadn’t won consecutive victories in a Tour level event since reaching the fourth round of the U.S. Open a few weeks after his Rogers Cup breakthrough.
This week he dispatched No. 78 Ivo Karlovic, a former Delray Beach Open champion and arguably the best server on Tour; and two young Americans on the rise, No. 57 Jared Donaldson and No. 85 Taylor Fritz, before running into a red-hot 91st-ranked Tiafoe.
He also played a couple of rounds of doubles with countryman Peter Polansky. Shapovalov will play doubles with fellow Next Gen star, Hyeon Chung, in Acapulco and Indian Wells if they qualify.
“In Montreal almost all my matches were three sets, so I’ve been in this position before,’’ he said. “Last year I was coming up with a lot of Ws in tight third sets. It’s definitely a big confidence booster for me. I’m definitely starting to get a little momentum, getting a lot of matches under my belt against really good opponents and managed to gut them out and win.
“That’s how I kind of started last year. I hope to do the same. If not, I’ll try to go back to square one, but this is a good start.’’
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Shapovalov certainly enjoyed his week in sunny South Florida, playing pinball at the Silverball Museum off nearby Atlantic Avenue, shooting hoops in the player’s lounge or hanging out at the posh Boca Raton Resort.
“It’s incredible. I’m seeing all these Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s, so it’s a little bit motivating for me,’’ he joked earlier this week.
He graciously took tons of selfies with the many Canadian snowbirds in the stands who were chanting his name all week. Shapovalov admitted he’s getting accustomed to his newfound fame.
“It was definitely pretty quick last year. I went from a guy being top 150 to 50 within a month and everything kind of changed for me,’’ he said.
“Now, I feel pretty comfortable with it. I feel like I’m part of the Tour. My ranking may go up; it may go down. I know where my level is and I’m able to compete with these guys weekly.
“Honestly, my game has improved a lot from last year. Physically I’m stronger. Mentally I’m stronger.’’
Tiafoe, America’s 20-year-old hope, seemed the stronger of the duo Saturday as he was regularly popping in warp-speed serves and line-scraping forehands, while mixing in a delicately short-angled forehand that took Shapovalov off the court.
On serve until 5-5 of the first set, Shapovalov seemed to be going for too much and eventually it cost him when Tiafoe ripped a backhand return of serve down the line for the critical break.
Shapovalov’s concentration wandered as he dropped the first three games of the second set and while he did retrieve one back he was unable to pull off the comeback as Tiafoe, his friend and occasional practice partner, closed their first official match together with a 131-mph ace.
Shapovalov was frustrated as he barked at his player’s box where his mother Tessa and coach Martin Laurendeau were seated. He said he couldn’t find his rhythm on his serve (56 percent on first serve) and felt slow on the court.
He gave all credit to Tiafoe.
“He’s definitely a great opponent,’’ Shapovalov said. “He moves extremely well; he’s extremely solid from the ground and if he sees anything sit up, he’s going to go for it. It’s tough playing a guy like that when he’s on.’’
After the 71-minute slugfest ended, Shapovalov received a huge ovation as he waved to the fans. Afterwards the two spoke of a potential rivalry for years to come.
“Definitely, I’m going to see his face a lot across the net quite a few times here in the next 10-to-15 years,’’ Tiafoe said. “I’m excited for it.’’
Shapovalov agreed.
“I really think he’s capable of winning grand slams and doing great things in this sport,’’ he said. “He’s an unbelievable player. He showed that today and throughout the whole week that he can really hurt players and do damage. Hopefully, we can play for a long time.’’