And then were none. This defeat for Kyle Edmund means that there are no British players left in this US Open. It’s a worrying glimpse of what life might be like without Andy Murray. As for the extravagantly talented Denis Shapovalov, the Canadian is through to the fourth round for the first time in his short career and he will face Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta next. The bottom half of the men’s draw is so open. Not one player has reached a grand slam final. Astonishing. Only Sam Querrey has reached a grand slam semi-final. It’s a wonderful opportunity for someone - and your guess is as good as mine. Thanks for reading. Bye.
Updated
“It’s never nice to win that way,” says Denis Shapovalov as Kyle Edmund wanders off court. “I thought I had a lot of chances in the first set. I had chances to break back. It just wasn’t clicking together. I knew I had to stay aggressive. I knew my chances would come and luckily they did in the second.”
Updated
Denis Shapovalov wins 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 1-0 after Kyle Edmund retires
A sad end. Kyle Edmund looked like he was going to try to play through the pain of that neck injury, but he’s decided that he can’t continue. He walks to the net to congratulate Shapovalov. Muted applause greets them.
Fourth set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 6-3, 5-3, 1-0 Edmund (*denotes server): Shapovalov holds to love. It briefly seemed Edmund might quit at the end of that game, but he’s soldiering on for now. He’s very subdued. He’s shaking his head.
Denis Shapovalov wins the third set 6-3; he leads 3-6, 6-3, 6-3!
The game goes to 30-all. Edmund tries a drop shot. Nope. Shapovalov flings a backhand past him for a set point. Edmund duly hits a forehand long. That escalated quickly. The neck injury makes it hard to see Edmund coming back from this.
Third set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 6-3, 5-3 Edmund (*denotes server): The trainer tried to loosen up Edmund’s neck with a quick massage, but he seems to be in some pain now. Shapalov strolls to a hold to love.
Third set: Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 4-3 Edmund* (*denotes server): Now we’ll see how much the neck issue is affecting Edmund as he prepares to serve at a crucial juncture in the third set. Shapovalov immediately takes on a tame second serve and makes it 0-15 with a meaty backhand. Then Edmund wafts a forehand long for 0-30. This is ominous for the British No2, who gifts Shapovalov three break points with an overcooked backhand. Shapovalov doesn’t have to do much but wait for another error from Edmund. The trainer is back on.
Third set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 6-3, 3-3 Edmund (*denotes server): The trainer has been and gone and the match resumes. Edmund doesn’t seem to be too inhibited, although he lets himself down by netting a simple volley for 15-0. Shapovalov’s serve is never under threat here. He holds to love with a precise forehand.
Kyle Edmund has called for the trainer because of a neck problem. He has played a lot of tennis recently.
Updated
Third set: Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 2-3 Edmund* (*denotes server): Stunning returning takes Shapovalov into a 0-30 lead, but Edmund battles to 30-all. The game goes to deuce. It’s scrappy. Not much to get excited about in the end. Edmund holds in low-key fashion.
Third set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 6-3, 2-2 Edmund (*denotes server): There’s a brilliant ease to the way Shapovalov hits the ball at times, a demonstration of which comes when he whips a backhand from right to left for 30-0. Another searing backhand makes it 40-15 and he holds with a forehand winner.
Third set: Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 1-2 Edmund* (*denotes server): The game goes to 30-all. Shapovalov is on top. He’s dictating. He punishes a rasping forehand into the corner to earn a break point. Alarm bells are ringing for Edmund here. But he does very well to adjust when Shapovalov clips the tape with a return, making life tricky for Edmund, who scoops a low forehand away for deuce. Edmund’s relieved to hold.
Third set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 6-3, 1-1 Edmund (*denotes server): Shapovalov holds to love. On Eurosport he’s being likened in style to Rod Laver. High praise. In other news, Diego Schwartzman has caused a big shock: the little Argentinian has beaten Marin Cilic in four sets to reach round four. The bottom half of the draw is so open.
Updated
Third set: Shapovalov 3-6, 6-3, 0-1 Edmund* (*denotes server): Edmund makes a very good start to the set, nailing an ace to hold to love. He’ll have to stay at that level at least to deal with the precocious talent on the other side of the net.
Denis Shapovalov wins the second set 6-3 to level the match!
Shapovalov seems to be feeling it now, his fourth double-fault making it 15-30. Or not. A 131mph ace makes it 30-all. Edmund’s determined not to make it easy for Shapovalov, though, and earns a break point with an accurate smash down the middle after softening the Canadian up with a fearsome forehand. Edmund nets a backhand, though, and Shapovalov earns his fifth set point when he pounces on a short ball. A big serve is what he needs. A big serve is what he gets. Edmund blocks his return wide and the match is level!
Updated
Second set: Shapovalov 3-6, 5-3 Edmund* (*denotes server): Serving to stay in the set, Edmund’s down 0-15 after Shapovalov picks him off at the net with a forehand. The game goes to deuce. It’s not long before Shapovalov has a set point, but a poor return spares Edmund. Yet Edmund is struggling to close the game out. Shapovalov clips a backhand return down the line to earn his second set point. Edmund increases the power of his forehand to save it. A sloppy forehand from Edmund hands Shapovalov a third chance, but the Canadian nets a backhand pass. A fourth chance comes and goes. Shapovalov crashes a final return long and he’ll have to serve for the set.
Second set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 5-2 Edmund (*denotes server): Shapovalov begins the game shakily, double-faulting, and another one makes it 15-30. Edmund can’t take advantage and, although the game goes to deuce, Shapovalov edges closer to levelling the match.
Second set: Shapovalov 3-6, 4-2 Edmund*(*denotes server): Dangerous times for Edmund, as Shapovalov makes it 15-30 with an arrowed backhand. He does well to cling on and hold to 30.
Second set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 4-1 Edmund (*denotes server): Looking to consolidate the break, Shapovalov holds to 15 with an ace. He’s on one now.
Updated
Second set: Shapovalov 3-6, 3-1 Edmund* (*denotes server): Edmund thumps a forehand past Shapovalov for 15-0 and looks in control at 30-0. But there times when the Canadian whizzkid reaches into his box of tricks and confounds Edmund. Three straight points earn him a break point. Shapovalov can’t take it. A fine backhand return carves out another opportunity, but he knocks a backhand wide. A piercing backhand brings up a third chance. This time Edmund cracks. His forehand breaks down. Shapovalov roars.
Second set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 2-1 Edmund (*denotes server): At 15-all, Shapovalov gets a backhand volley all wrong, mistiming his jump and dumping it into the net. He’s still searching for consistency. He finds enough inspiration with a backhand down the line at 40-30, though, and holds to 30.
Second set: Shapovalov 3-6, 1-1 Edmund* (*denotes server): Edmund holds to love.
Second set: Shapovalov* 3-6, 1-0 Edmund (*denotes server): Looking for a positive start after that messy opening set, Shapovalov finds the line with a killer forehand. But he’s still erratic. Too excitable. A double-fault hands Edmund a 15-30 lead. But Shapovalov fights to 40-30 and then punishes a dismal Edmund slice, flaying a backhand down the line to hold.
Kyle Edmund wins the first set 6-3!
Serving for the set, Edmund makes an awkward start, missing a forehand by a fair old distance. Shapovalov’s level rises again and he makes it 15-30 with a piercing backhand from right to left before earning two break points when Edmund knocks a forehand long. Edmund saves both, though, first with a cracking wide serve, then with a powerful forehand for deuce. An ace brings up a set point and Edmund finds the depth with a solid backhand to force Shapovalov to net a forehand on the run!
Updated
First set: Shapovalov* 3-5 Edmund (*denotes server): Again Edmund finds himself at 15-30 while returning. This is an intriguing match. Shapovalov approaches the net. Edmund swipes a forehand on the run and it clips the tape, leaving Shapovalov unable to do anything with his stooping volley. Two more break point, then. Shapovalov hurls a big forehand to the Edmund backhand and comes forward again; the Brit nets his pass. There’s one more break point, though, and Shapovalov’s 14th unforced error means Edmund will serve for the set!
First set: Shapovalov 3-4 Edmund* (*denotes server): Edmund halts the Shapovalov surge, holding to love.
First set: Shapovalov* 3-3 Edmund (*denotes server): Shapovalov continues to undermine moments of excellence with wayward shotmaking, a wide forehand making it 0-15, a stunning crosscourt backhand making it 15-all. There’s a sense that Edmund’s being outplayed - but then he’s clenching his fist after some Murray-esque defence. He clings on when Shapovalov crashes a backhand down his throat, then gutsily repels a smash before whipping a superb forehand down the line. Soon he has two break points. Shapovalov saves the first, though, and then Edmund nets a forehand as the game goes to deuce. Shapovalov holds. He’s won three games on the trot.
First set: Shapovalov 2-3 Edmund* (*denotes server): Shapovalov sends a loopy forehand return from right to left to make it 0-15, then goes on the attack, charging forward and coaxing an error out of Edmund for 0-30. “Come on!” the 18-year-old cries - before netting two backhands. Another wild backhand makes it 40-30, but the game goes to deuce and Shapovalov earns his first break point with a glorious forehand winner down the line. Can he take it? Yes, not that he had to do anything more than watch Edmund double-fault. Shapovalov’s in this now and he knows it, shooting intense looks at his box as he bounds back to his chair.
First set: Shapovalov* 1-3 Edmund (*denotes server): Shapovalov calms down a bit, moving into a 40-0 lead without much resistance from Edmund. He holds to love to get on the board and starts bouncing up and down on the spot. Kids.
First set: Shapovalov 0-3 Edmund* (*denotes server): Shapovalov’s forehand isn’t bad either, mind you, and a heatseeker makes it 0-15 as he attempts to repair the damage of that previous game. But the youngster hasn’t found his range on a consistent basis yet and the game drifts to 40-15. Edmund holds with a fine serve. He’ll be delighted with this start.
First set: Shapovalov* 0-2 Edmund (*denotes server): Edmund meets a 120mph serve with a rasping return winner, making it 15-30, and he earns a break point when Shapovalov sprays a backhand long at 30-all. A crunching forehand down the line does the job, Shapovalov forced to scramble his riposte well past the baseline, handing the early break to Edmund.
First set: Shapovalov 0-1 Edmund* (*denotes server): The match opens with Britain’s Kyle Edmund serving and the first rally’s an entertainingly long and feisty affair, won by Shapovalov when Edmund nets a backhand. Shapovalov looks to be in the mood, making it 0-30 with a forehand winner, clenching his fist as the ball whizzes by Edmund, geeing himself up. Three misses from Shapovalov take Edmund to 40-30, though, and the game ends when the Canadian nets a backhand.
We’ve had the toss, we’ve had the warm-up, we’ve had the analysis. The players are going through their final preparations. The sun’s shining in New York. A tough-to-call match is about to begin. What’s not to like?
Denis Shapovalov has vowed to “take it to Kyle”. “Good luck, buddy,” says courtside interviewer Brad Gilbert. Edmund thinks he needs the right mentality in order to win. “Good luck today, buddy,” says Brad Gilbert. Right, buddies, it’s almost time for some tennis.
Kyle Edmund had this to say to the press pack when he was asked for his views about the challenge posed by the left-handed Denis Shapovalov.
Shapovalov likes to be offensive, likes to move forward, take the ball on. He’s been playing well in terms of his run in Montreal [where he beat Rafael Nadal] and then qualifying, so he is feeling good. It’s going to be a tough match but at the same time I’m playing well so definitely no reason why I shouldn’t go out there feeling confident.
His rise is basically from that Masters. It’s a lot of points to get semis at Masters. He beat me in the grass-court season [at Queen’s] but he didn’t have a great clay-court season. He got on the grass pretty early, playing the Challengers in Surbiton and Nottingham, and he qualified at Queen’s. So he played a bunch of matches which really helped him. Since then, that hard-court run in Montreal will have done the world of good for him. That’s where he’s got his confidence, and qualifying here.”
He also recalled the Davis Cup incident.
I definitely watched it back. You can see on the video that my head was down when he hit it. I thought he hit it against the boards at the side where our team was. I thought the umpire was going, ‘Oh no, what’s he done? You can’t smack a ball like that so close to people’. And then I realised it hit him. It’s quite funny, everyone is in shock, no one is really doing anything. It got a few YouTube hits. All of my matches have got something like 5,000 or 10,000, then you go on that and it’s 200,000 just from that incident.”
Updated
The first match on Arthur Ashe has just finished and Petra Kvitova has handed Caroline Garcia a drubbing. The 13th seed beat the 18th seed 6-0, 6-4 and will face Garbine Muguruza or Magdalena Rybarikova next.
Updated
Hello. There’s no Novak Djokovic. No Andy Murray. No Stan Wawrinka. Milos Raonic and Kei Nishikori haven’t made it to New York either, while 2014 champion Marin Cilic has had injury problems this summer. Roger Federer, nursing that stiff back, has squeaked through two tough and messy five-setters. Rafael Nadal has made slow starts in both of his matches, meanwhile, and so the sense grows that we could be about to witness something akin to a changing of the guard at this US Open. As men’s tennis becomes ever more decipherable with each passing day and each surprise development, an opportunity has arisen for some young buck or overlooked outsider to make a name for himself over the course of the next week or so, although good luck trying to predict who that might be with any certainty.
Outside of Federer and Nadal, trying to pick a potential champion is a dangerous game. A path opens up for a supposed contender, but too many are reading the map upside down. After beating Federer in the Montreal final, Alex Zverev was meant to mount the biggest challenge to the sport’s two grandees. The fourth seed only lasted two rounds, however, crashing out to Borna Coric, the 20-year-old Croatian who hasn’t quite lived up to his billing as the new Djokovic, but who now has a chance to demonstrate why he was rated so highly a couple of years ago. They come and go. Nick Kyrgios beat Nadal in Cincinnati, only to crash out against his moderately talented fellow Australian, John Millman, in the first round here. Grigor Dimitrov, too old and carrying too many regrets to be spoken of in terms of potential and promise any more, disappointed yet again, following up his Cincinnati title by imploding against Andrey Rublev yesterday. Perhaps ... perhaps Rublev, a fiery young Russian, is about to do something extraordinary.
We just don’t know if any of them have what it takes, though. The grand slams have been dominated by the top players for such a long time that assessing the field isn’t easy now that so many of them are off recovering from various ailments.
Yet the draw has opened up to such an inviting extent that eventually someone’s going to rise above the turbulence and discover the clarity, composure and confidence to soothe a sport reeling from the dimming of so many of its leading lights. It could be Denis Shapovalov, the exciting 18-year-old Canadian who’s having quite a time of it in 2017. You might recall that Shapovalov was the nitwit who managed to get himself defaulted from Canada’s Davis Cup tie against Great Britain in February when he accidentally struck a ball at the umpire. We all did stupid things when we were teenagers, though, and Shapovalov has recovered well from that ridiculous incident. His progress has been startling this summer. He stunned Nadal in Cincinnati, breezed through qualifying last week and has reached the third round after handy wins over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Daniil Medvedev, neither of whom are easy opponents.
The world No69, whose ranking is set to rise after this fortnight, does not need to be introduced to his opponent today. With Murray absent, Kyle Edmund finds himself in the unusual position of being the last British player still standing at a grand slam. Edmund, of course, was on the other side of the net when Shapovalov had that meltdown in the Davis Cup - and he lost to the Canadian at Queen’s in June.
The British No2, who lost to Djokovic in the fourth round last year, has had a couple of good wins over Robin Haase and Steve Johnson this week and his form is encouraging going into this one. Like Shapovalov, the quiet 22-year-old can be forgiven for daring to dream.
Play begins: not before 6pm BST and 1pm in New York.
Updated
