Madrid Open 2018: Shapovalov powers past Raonic, into quarterfinals

Evan Sporer

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Madrid Open 2018: Shapovalov powers past Raonic, into quarterfinals image

For almost a year now, Denis Shapovalov has gone from a viral sensation for an upset win against Rafael Nadal to a rising tennis star, not just in Canada, but globally. And while his coming out party against Nadal came in Canada during the Rogers Cup, his status among his countryman still had room to grow.

While Shapovalov may not have officially taken the Canadian tennis torch, he took a big step toward doing so Thursday, defeating Milos Raonic in the Round of 16 at the Madrid Open (6-4, 6-4) in the first ever meeting between countrymen.

“Definitely one of my best days on clay. To be on the court against such a legend for me, and for my country, it was an honour,” Shapovalov said following the match. “What he does for our country, for tennis, for these past couple years, it’s incredible. Like I said, to be on the court against him, it was great.

“He’s such a legend in our country. He’s been dominating the sport in our country and in the world. I’ve always looked up to him. To beat a guy like that, like I said, it’s a huge confidence booster for me.”

With the victory, Shapovalov will jump to a career-best 34 in the newest ATP rankings. A win in the quarterfinal could see Shapovalov jump into the top-30 for the first time ever.

In a tight match between players of two drastically different styles, Shapovalov managed to produce the only two breaks, both coming with the respective sets tied at 3-3.

With little margin for error, Shapovalov won the first break point after a miss-hit shot by Shapovalov caught Raonic wrong-footed, but leaving the 19-year-old Shapovalov with a 4-3 lead and apologizing to his opponent.

But from there, each player went back to holds, and with Shapovalov up the break, he served out the set, taking it 6-4.

The second set played out eerily similar, with each player holding serve to 3-3. Raonic almost got broken early in the set, but staved off a pair of break points to take a 3-2 lead. It looked like that save gave him a bit of momentum, as he earned a break point of his own on Shapovalov's next serve, the only break point Shapovalov faced the entire match. But a resilient Shapovalov won the next three points to take a 3-3 lead.

Then came the identical break in the second, with Shapovalov taking it to Raonic, using that aggressive passing backhand to keep Raonic on his heels. A missed volley by Raonic played into the net gave Shapovalov his opening, and he broke and consolidated to once again take a 4-3 lead.

Shapovalov fell behind 0-30 with a chance to close out the match on serve, but won the next four points and take down Raonic in straight sets.

It was a convincing performance from Shapovalov, who hit 28 winners, 16 on his forehand side.

This sets up a quarterfinal round match for Shapovalov against Kyle Edmund, whom Shapovalov has split four matches with during his young career.

Even that feels symbolic in this run for Shapovalov, whose progress will always be tied to Edmund. Early in 2017, Shapovalov was losing in a Davis Cup matchup against the Brit, and was disqualified late in that match when, out of frustration, he spiked a ball that hit the chair umpire in the face.

Later that year though Shapovalov took the tennis world by storm, and during a wildly successful summer, defeated Edmund in the Round of 32 at the US Open, very much a look-how-far-he's come moment for the Canadian teen.

Shapovalov and Edmund last met at the Brisbane Open, with Edmund defeating Shapovalov on New Years' Dau.

Evan Sporer