Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is off to the third round of Wimbledon following a hard-fought 7-6 (3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4 win over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier on Thursday.
In an uneven effort, Shapovalov fired nine aces while committing 16 double faults. The 25-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., finished the match with 58 unforced errors, compared to 28 from Altmaier.
Shapovalov will next play 14th seed Ben Shelton of the United States.
After Shapovalov won the first two sets to take control of the match, Altmaier responded with a dominant third set that saw him win the last five games.
An early break and a hold to start the fourth set increased the German’s winning streak to seven games. Shapovalov got the break back in the eighth game as the set went to a tiebreak, which Altmaier claimed with back-to-back forehand winners.
Shapovalov responded in the decisive fifth set by converting an early break to go up 2-0 and then holding serve for the win. He put the match away with a pair of winners, giving him a total of 51.
WATCH: Shapovalov ekes out 2nd-round win in London, England:
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., survived a furious rally by Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, to advance to the third round with a 7-6(3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(3), 6-4 win.
Shapovalov is making his seventh appearance at the All England Club. His best showing to date being a run to the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in 2021. He made it to the Round of 16 last year.
A deep run at Wimbledon could turn around what has been a disappointing season for Shapovalov, a former world No. 10. He entered Wimbledon ranked 121st in the world, and even with his two wins at the All England Club he has a losing record on the year at 12-15.
With the need to pick up ranking points, he decided to take himself out of consideration for Canada’s Olympic tennis team. He has committed to play at the Citi Open in Washington D.C., July 27 to Aug. 4, which is the same time as the Olympic tennis tournament.
Later Thursday, Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Que., was set to face former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in a women’s second-round match.
Fernandez, 21, has never made it past the second round at Wimbledon.
5th seed Pegula eliminated by Wang
The U.S. Stars and Stripes fluttered feebly for Jessica Pegula as the fifth seed was ousted in the second round by China’s Wang Xinyu 6-4 6-7(9) 6-1 on American Independence Day.
The Chinese player blasted 38 winners which, combined with 33 unforced errors from Pegula, secured victory and a third round match-up against Harriet Dart who beat fellow Briton Katie Boulter in a tense three-set thriller.
For Wang, world No. 42, the victory was her first over a top-10 player.
For Pegula the loss was an ignominious crash back to earth on the back of some great form heading into the grasscourt Grand Slam.
In the Berlin lead-up event she saved five match points in the final to win her first career grass title with victory over Anna Kalinskaya and had high hopes of improving on last year’s quarter-final finish here.
Djokovic pushed by wild card
Novak Djokovic says he wouldn’t have been surprised if his second-round match against young Jacob Fearnley went to a fifth set, but he’s “very glad it didn’t.”
The seven-time champion at the All England Club beat his 22-year-old Scottish opponent 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 on Centre Court in another test of his fitness following recent knee surgery.
“Can I be playing better and moving better? Yes, absolutely,” Djokovic said in an on-court interview. “So I’m hoping that as the tournament progresses each day or each match I’ll be feeling a bit better.”
Fearnley, a wild-card entry who recently finished playing college tennis at TCU, had a strong cheering section that erupted when he took the third set.
“He served very well, it was very difficult to break his serve. He made me work, definitely,” Djokovic said.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion said he should have closed it out in straight sets, but that he “was not really comfortable in my own skin, particularly in the third and fourth.
Hubert Hurkacz injured
Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 7 seed, was forced to retire from his second-round match because of a knee injury.
With Arthur Fils of France leading 7-6 (2), 6-4, 2-6, 6-6, the players were deep into the fourth-set tiebreaker when Hurkacz dove to make a shot and landed on his right knee. With an 8-7 set point in his favor, Hurkacz called for a medical timeout, returned to the court to play two points, then retired with Fils at set point in the tiebreaker.
The 20-year-old Fils will be playing in the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time.
Hurkacz, of Poland, is the third top 10-seed out of the men’s tournament.
No. 6 Andrey Rublev of Russia and No. 8 Casper Ruud of Norway fell in the first and second rounds, respectively.
The severity of the injury to Hurkacz was not immediately known. He is scheduled to represent Poland in the Paris Olympics later this month.
In other action:
- Britain’s big day at Wimbledon got off to a rough start when wild-card entry Yuriko Lily Miyazaki won only 19 points en route to a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Daria Kasatkina.
- No. 12 Madison Keys marked U.S. Independence Day with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Wang Yafan to reach the third round.
