Tennis has another new star. Whatever happens to Denis Shapovalov after pushing the seasoned Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta all the way in the fourth round of the US Open on Sunday, the Canadian teenager has left an indelible impression on a sport in a state of flux. This might be his time.
On day seven of a tournament that will be remembered for those who were not here – the title-holder Stan Wawrinka as well as former champions Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray – as much as those who have made the most of their opportunities, it took the 12th seed Carreño Busta three tie-breaks and nearly three hours to wear down Shapovalov under the roof of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
But the kid kept punching to the final bell, saving two of five match points at the end before Carreño Busta served big and wide to secure a gripping 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) win. He is yet to drop a set.
“The month of August has been absolutely life-changing for me,” said Shapovalov, the first qualifier to reach the final 16 here since Gilles Müller nine years ago.
He leaves just his second slam tournament as the youngest player to reach the fourth round here since Michael Chang 28 years ago. He had his chances, especially in the first set and he squandered them, but he trusted his talent in every shot. A strong-legged six-footer with a powerful left arm, he will surely break through soon.
Carreño Busta’s performance should not be downgraded. He wobbled once or twice, but soaked up the pressure and repeatedly hurt Shapovalov with his solid second serve, making him play every point to the full.
In the top half of the draw there are players with 35 slam titles between them, 24 of those owned by two players, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. In the bottom half? Zero. For anyone to beat either Federer or Nadal in the final on Sunday would give new meaning to the term topsy-turvy.
Carreño Busta, who played in the doubles final last year against Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, returned to Ashe acknowledging his opponent was, “on fire”. Underlining the tournament’s thirst for celebrity drawcards, this was Shapovalov’s third successive match on their showcase stage, which was covered to guard against the light rain which stalled play on the outside courts.
Shapovalov, a well-balanced young celebrity, took time beforehand to explain the pronunciation of his name (not a strong suit in the United States): “It’s like ‘shapo’, as in hat in French, chapeau, and valov.” What could be easier?
Kyle Edmund found his game tougher to handle than his name in the third round, and was red-lining when trailing him just before his back gave up on him on this court two days ago. John McEnroe, shamelessly writing himself into Shapovalov’s script, observed: “I was 20 when I won my first major, and 18 when I played Wimbledon first time. Life will never be the same for him after this tournament, and Montreal.”
In that Rogers Cup tournament, Shapovalov beat Nadal, and it took fellow prodigy Alexander Zverev to stop him in the semi-finals, before the German with Russian roots went on to beat Federer in the final. A mouthwatering rivalry between Shapovalov and Zverev – who was dumped out of this tournament in the second round – is what tennis craves at the tailend of the Federer-Nadal era.
Shapovalov was born in Tel Aviv and his Russian parents, Viktor and Tessa, emigrated to Canada when he was a baby, gifting that country a special talent.
Carreño Busta, 26, is the youngest Spaniard in the top 100, and was playing his fourth qualifier in a row, unprecedented in a major; the prize for both players and others battling on Sunday was obvious: a rare, comparatively easy ride to the final of a grand slam tournament.
Shapovalov’s progress was shaping as a cakewalk when he broke Carreño Busta in the sixth game. But he was broken serving for the set as he trusted his single-handed backhand once too often at the end of a 25-shot rally to set up the first tie-break. Carreno Busta stayed calm in the crunch moments there.
As Edmund said after losing against Shapovalov: “He’s obviously got a very good serve, more because he’s a lefty, so it’s different angles coming at you. He likes to take it on. With that, you get some errors. Sometimes he gave you errors.” And so it transpired, as Shapovalov squandered five break points in the first hour, and Carreño Busta made the most of the few that came his way.
Martin Laurendeau, the Montrealian who made the fourth round here in 1988 and shares coaching with Shapovalov’s mother, observed courtside after his young charge went down a break in the second: “He’s still the underdog, but he’s playing the way he loves to play.”
Carreño Busta cashed in on his experience to go 4-1 up in the second but blinked serving for a two-set lead at 5-3, when Shapovalov struck two cool smashes to drag it back, then hold and force a second shootout. From 1-4 down, he pressed his opponent all the way before a final forehand went astray.
Shapovalov surprised everyone when he exploded into life to go 3-0 up in the third, before serving a double fault to hand the fifth game back to Carreno Busta.
Just as the power seemed to be draining from his whirring racket, Shapovalov was within one overcooked forehand of set point on his opponent’s serve, and they slugged their way to a third tie-break after two hours and 54 minutes of enthralling tennis. There was little in it overall, the winner taking 128 points, the loser 124.
