It was a good day to be Canadian at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Tuesday, as Vasek Pospisil and Felix Auger-Aliassime both advanced in singles play and Denis Shapovalov claimed victory with partner Rohan Bopanna in doubles action.
Pospisil's victory was the biggest surprise of the day, as the 29-year-old defeated No. 63 Joao Sousa 6-3, 7-5 to move on to the Round of 16. The victory follows three straight wins in Shanghai for 248th-ranked Pospisil, who prevailed over Adrian Mannarino and Marcel Granollers in the qualifiers before a straight-sets triumph over No. 14 Diego Schwartzman in the first round.
The Vernon, British Columbia, native will face Russia's Daniil Medvedev, currently ranked fourth in the world, on Wednesday.
All smiles for Canadians on Tuesday at the @SH_RolexMasters 😁@felixtennis scores a 7-6(5), 4-0 (ret.) win over Alexander Bublik, while @denis_shapo is victorious in doubles and @VasekPospisil wins his fourth in a row, 6-3, 7-5 over Joao Sousa.
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) October 8, 2019
📸 Mike Frey/Shanghai Masters pic.twitter.com/tCleT4gpqD
Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime is into the Round of 32 after a truncated match against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik. The 19-year-old Canadian hasn't played his best tennis over the last two months, and on Tuesday he again struggled as he gave up 14 break point opportunities in less than two full sets against Bublik.
Fortunately for Auger-Aliassime, the Kazakhstani could only convert two of those break points, and the Montreal native was able to outlast his older opponent in a tiebreak to claim the first set despite some inspired play by Bublik.
A+ for reactions 🌟#RolexSHMasters pic.twitter.com/JEoHJAiNDE
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 8, 2019
Auger-Aliassime, who entered the tournament as the 19th-ranked player in the world, used the momentum from the first set to jump out to a 4-0 second-set lead before Bublik retired from the match, giving the teenager a 7-6 (5), 4-0 victory and a berth in the round of 32 against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Wednesday.
In doubles action, Shapovalov and India's Bopanna dominated Russian team Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov 6-1, 6-4 to move onto the Round of 16.
Shapovalov is still alive in the singles draw, where he'll take on top seed Novak Djokovic in the Round of 32 after defeating Frances Tiafoe in straight sets on Monday. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime and Italy's Matteo Berrettini are scheduled to face Croatian duo Franko Škugor and Nikola Mektić in doubles action on Wednesday.