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By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, August 13, 2018

 
Denis Shapovalov

Denis Shapovalov withstood 13 double faults and Frances Tiafoe, 7-6, 3-6, 7-5, while Lucas Pouille beat former No. 1 Andy Murray.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Denis Shapovalov struggled to land his second serve, but converted second chances to sneak past Frances Tiafoe into the Cincinnati second round.

Down 4-5 in the final set, Shapovalov broke twice in succession edging Tiafoe, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-5, in his Western & Southern Open debut that ended with a respectful embrace.

Watch: Murray and Kyrgios Bond on Rollercoaster




The 32nd-ranked Shapovalov will play Kyle Edmund in round two.

The 14th-seeded Briton beat American wild card Mackenzie McDonald, 6-3, 6-2. 

The battle of NextGen stars offered both scratchy sections and superb shotmaking—sometimes within the space of a single game.

Shapovalov spit up 13 double faults and over-hit at times, but continued to fearlessly fire away including slashing a forehand pass to seal his fourth set point in the opening set.

It's a stinging loss for Tiafoe, who conquered Shapovalov, 7-5, 6-4, in the Delray Beach semifinals en route to his maiden ATP title in February.

The American wild card put himself in position for his 25th win, but grew tentative at closing time. At one point, Tiafoe went 67 straight points without hitting a winner, according to Tennis Channel statistics.

Tiafoe served for the opening set at 5-4 only to see Shapovalov tear through a love break to level.

The 20-year-old Tiafoe fought off three set points in the tiebreak, torching a crosscourt pass that a stretched Shapovalov nudged into the top of the tape to save the third set point.

A routine rally error gave Shapovalov a fourth set point. The left-handed Canadian crunched a crackling forehand pass to take the opening set with a shout.

The 20-year-old Tiafoe battled back from a break down in the decisive set to earn break points in the ninth game.

A frenetic, physical rally ended with Tiafoe drawing the netted error to break for 5-4.

A fired-up Tiafoe waved his arms energetically exhorting the Cincinnati crowd to make some noise.

The crowd complied with a concerted roar, but Shapovalov pressed the mute button.

Attacking behind a forehand, the teenager drew a passing-shot error for two break points. Tiafoe lined up a high forehand, but netted it trying to drive the ball down the line as Shapovalov broke back for 5-all.

Surging through a love hold, Shapovalov streaked through seven straight points for triple match point.

On the second match point, Tiafoe badly bungled a backhand to end it.

Pouille Earns First Win Over Murray

Former No. 1 Andy Murray and Lucas Pouille have a history.

And it's been mostly misery for Pouille, who was winless in four prior matches vs. Murray and managed to win more than three games in a set just once.

Pouille turned the tables today holding off Murray, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, to earn his first career Cincinnati win.




The 16th-seeded Pouille will play either Argentinian Leonardo Mayer or American qualifier Michael Mmoh in round two.

Playing just his seventh match since undergoing right hip surgery on January 8th in Melbourne, Murray took some time to find his range.

The two-time Cincinnati champion is clearly lacking match play and wasn't as sharp changing direction, but battled hard and elevated his play as the match progressed.

"It has been hard," Murray said of his comeback. "And also some of the matches that I lost, as well, like today, although it wasn't the best tennis match, it didn't feel like I played a good first set at all, I only lost four more points in the match than him. You know, it was tight.

"He's a top-20 player. I lost against Nick [Kyrgios at Queen's Club], and that was another really close match, as well. So although, you know, obviously I would have liked the results to have been a bit better, you know, the matches and the guys I have lost against have been three top-20 players and wasn't far off winning two of those matches.

"So there has been some positives there. And if I can improve by kind of 10, 15 perce nt, you know, you turn a lot of those matches around, as well."

 

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