Denis Shapovalov entered the third round of the U.S. Open on Thursday with a 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4) entertainment and wrong 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Shapowaf won his sixth break in one game, both players working to win the serve.
The 27-seeded Canadian shot with 29 but suffered 43 non-compulsory errors, 2 more than Royer and, despite only 4 sets, took 36 minutes to complete 36 minutes.
Royer had already broken Shapovalov early in the first three sets and was planning to do it again in the fourth inning of the fourth set. But the 26-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ontario saved five breakout points before completing the holding.
Shapovalov finally moved on in the scene when he broke Royer’s duality game to lead 4-3.
After shelving, Shapovalov went bankrupt again when Royer cut the net at the match point, which made the Canadian crowd happy in Game 7.
If he wants to make further progress, Shapovalov will cut his work for him. In the third round, he was attracted to face Italy’s defending champion and world number one.
Shapovalov made two counterattacks on the first set break twice, forcing a tiebreaker to serve with Royer.
Royer led 6-5 in the decisive game, then Shapovalov scored a forehand victory at a fixed point. After winning, he raised his ear and nodded, receiving a loud response from the crowd.
Royer once again got his first breakthrough in the second set, up 4-2, and this time he didn’t give up the lead. Shapovalov’s attempted comeback ended in Game 9, when Royer won with his third win.
Both men had difficulties keeping the game started in the third set, with the first three games leading to a break, including Royer’s love break, rising 2-1.
Shapovalov broke into again in Game 6 to lead the game 3-3. He then had a chance to win the return game, but Royer retained three fixed points in the path of 5-5. The debate with the Chair referee was brief after Shapovalov lost his first fixed point.
Shapovalov finally won the game with his fifth inning, 7-4 with his evil cross-field backhand.
The victory marked Shapovalov’s best Grand Slam result this year.
Shapovalov hasn’t surpassed the second round in any major in 2025, putting the opener in Wimbledon before the Australian and French opened a game.
Canadians Gabriel Diallo and Felix Auger-Aliassime will also compete in the second round later Thursday.
Meanwhile, Leylah Fernandez and American partner Venus Williams defeated the sixth seed duo 7-6, 6-3 in Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Ellen Perez of England.
Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski won the 2023 U.S. Open together with New Zealand partner Erin Routliffe, who also opened on Thursday’s match against Marketa Vondrousova and Miriam Skoch in the Eston Championship.
– Files with SportsNet
