Denis Shapovalov puts the crowd on fire again in Montreal. The Canadian beats Mannarino to reach the semifinal at the Rogers Cup. After this achievement, Denis is the youngest player ever to qualify for a semi-final in an ATP1000.

For the third time this week, Denis had to fight from a 1 set down the deficit. The Canadian had a terrible start of the match against Mannarino to be 0-4 down in no time. Then he found his groove after he saved many break points in the 5th game (that would have been a horrible 0-5) to finally get on the scoreboard even if it was too late to win the opening set.

In the second set, Shapovalov was much more solid on his serve; he didn’t concede any break point, and he conquered the decisive break in the 6th game (4-2) before bringing the affair to the decider.

The third set was a sheer thriller. In fact, Mannarino looked heavy on his legs, and he was broken already in the 3rd game, but then it was Denis to be sloppy soon after to immediately concede his service game (2-2).  The critical moment was when the Canadian managed to break the Frenchman again in the 9th game (5-4) to finally win the match after 2 hours and 25 minutes. The final score was 2-6 6-3 6-4.

I have improved a lot mentally. SHAPOVALOV

Denis was elated with both his win and his mental toughness to comment

“I’ve been against the wall a couple of times this week. I’m very happy I’ve come out several times just playing really good tennis in those situations. I think it really shows how I’ve improved mentally along with just finding my game at the right moments.”

Next vs.Zverev

Denis will play Alexander Zverev in the semi-final. They have never played each other at ATP level. This may become a classic in the years to come.