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Canada’s Shapovalov through to men’s second round at Madrid Open

Canada’s Shapovalov through to men’s second round at Madrid Open
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MADRID — Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is through to the second round of the Madrid Open with a 7-6 (1), 6-3 win over France’s Ugo Humbert on Monday.

Shapovalov, seeded 14th in Madrid, defended all nine break points he faced and cashed in on his lone chance to break, coming in the second set.

That proved to be the difference in an otherwise even match. Shapovalov won 53 per cent of total points, giving up a few percentage points on serve to Humbert and performing slightly better on returns.

With the win, Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., improved his career record over Humbert to 3-1.

Shapovalov will next face Britain’s Andy Murray. The former world No. 1 beat former No. 3 Dominic Thiem, who was playing just his third event since returning from a wrist injury, 6-3, 6-4.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, seeded eighth in Madrid, has a bye to the second round.

Earlier, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Czech partner Kateřina Siniaková were eliminated in the second round of women’s doubles competition following a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri.

Mihalíková and Eikeri made the most of their service game, winning 65 per cent of total service points compared to 54.3 per cent for Fernandez and Siniaková.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., and Siniaková were broken four times on 10 chances. They had six opportunities to break their opponents, but converted just once.

Fernandez and Siniaková had advanced to the second round with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 10-7 win over sixth seeds Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Mihalíková and Eikeri were next slated to play second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico on Tuesday.

The doubles defeat comes a day after Fernandez was ousted in singles competition with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann in the second round.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., is the last Canadian remaining in women’s singles competition. She is scheduled to take on Jessica Pegula of the United States in third-round action on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2022.

The Canadian Press