The Rogers Cup has been kind to Denis Shapovalov.
A year after the Canadian teenager announced himself to the tennis world with a storybook run through the 2017 edition of the Rogers Cup, Shapovalov returned to home soil and wrote the next chapter of his story at the premier event in Canada with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France's Jeremy Chardy.
With this year's tournament in Shapovalov's hometown of Toronto and with a year of his meteoric rise in the books, the 19-year-old drew a big crowd to Centre Court of the Aviva Centre. The large gathering was firmly behind the young Canadian, and Shapovalov seemed to draw energy from the crowd as he raced to a 6-1 first-set victory in under a half hour of play.
Commanding first set from @denis_shapo 6-1 over Chardy.
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 7, 2018
Home crowd advantage? #RogersCup pic.twitter.com/oWCytfF09L
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After being shell-shocked by Shapovalov's powerful forehand in the opening set, 31-year-old Chardy settled into the match and presented much more of a challenge to his young opponent in the second. The Frenchman, ranked 46th in the world, claimed four games in the second set but ultimately fell to the Canadian.
Love, Shapo.
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) August 8, 2018
A kiss to the crowd as @denis_shapo books his place in the @rogerscup second round 6-1 6-4 over Chardy. #RogersCup pic.twitter.com/Lvg8kFhchS
Shapovalov noted that his serve was a big reason for his victory Tuesday, with the 19-year-old giving his tennis coach mom, Tessa Shapovalova, credit for much of the work done to improve that facet of his game.
"I was serving really well today," Shapovalov told reporters after the match. " I was pretty loose on the serve, especially in the big moments."
Shapovalov advances to the Round of 32, where he'll face Italy's Fabio Fogini.