Rafael Nadal saw the door closing minutes before he was getting ready to walk through to clinch the highest spot in the ATP rankings. Rogers Cup in Montreal came with a possible special bonus for the 31-year-old Spaniard. But, as it turned out, in the end, not everyone in the room agreed with the fact, and it was Denis Shapovalov, an 18-year-old Canadian, who went on recovering from a set down to stun Nadal at the end of nearly three hours of heart-stopping tennis on the center court. The outcome itself puts Federer on a favorable path, and the Swiss tennis star can even close the gap between him and Nadal thus making the upcoming event in Cincinnati a possible all-in battle of giants.
This time, Shapovalov tastes a legitimate, positive glory
Earlier this year, the young player Denis Shapovalov put himself accidentally in the spotlight due to an unfortunate event that took place in a Davis Cup rubber between Canada and Great Britain. During his encounter against Kyle Edmund, being tormented by the loss of a point, driven by an angry behavior Shapovalov hit an umpire with a full-speed ball. He was immediately disqualified, and that episode may have been a maturing experience. That time, he made it into the spotlights due to a negative background. This time, it's all about cheering and praising.
Against Nadal, he did the match of his life, at least for now. He went on losing the opening set, and it seemed that Nadal would march his way into the quarterfinals.
Shapovalov had a different scenario that he applied in the next two sets. Winning the second act by 6-4, he pushed the match into a decisive third act. For the drama to be complete, it all went to a tie-break where the 18-year-old was the better man in the field. It's a stunning result, and the young Canadian will face Adrian Mannarino for a place in the semis of a Masters 1000 event.
Nadal bid ends, gives Federer the leverage
Rafael Nadal lost probably the second most important match of the season after losing the Australian Open final. On the other side, Roger Federer had his own share of drama and frustration too as he barely navigated his way against David Ferrer. It was one of his worst matches of the season as he went on making a lot of unforced errors while struggling with his serve too.
David Ferrer won the opening set, and Federer had to push himself to the limit to recover from that deficit. Eventually, he sealed the deal in three sets booking a clash with Roberto Bautista-Agut in the quarterfinals.
