By Chris Oddo | Thursday March 28, 2019
Denis Shapovalov was born a year after Roger Federer turned pro in 1998. On Friday in Miami the 19-year-old Canadian will face the Swiss legend for the first time.
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"I've been looking forward to this matchup, I think, my whole life,” the rising Canadian said after he booked his third career Masters 1000 semi-final semi-final with a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-2 victory over Frances Tiafoe on Thursday.
Federer, who reached his seventh semi-final at Miami, finished his 6-0 6-4 victory over Kevin Anderson not long after Tiafoe and Shapolov had completed their tilt.
Shapovalov joins his compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last four in Miami—for the first time since 2007 there are two teenagers in the semi-finals of a Masters 1000, and both players have a chance to finish the week inside the Top 20.
On Thursday Shapovalov improved to 2-1 lifetime against Tiafoe by rallying from a set down for the third time this week. He notched his first Top 10 win since 2017 on Tuesday when he knocked off Stefanos Tsitsipas in a third-set breaker from a set down, but the 19-year-old didn’t need to struggle as much against Tiafoe.
After dropping a hard-fought first set in a tiebreaker, Shapovalov took over the match and opened up double-break leads in the second and third sets.
Tiafoe would get one of the breaks back in the second set, but in the third Shapovalov held his ground and finished off the battle in two hours and 15 minutes.
The Canadian now owns a two-match winning streak over Tiafoe, a player that he calls a good friend.
“All the matches we have had our so much fun, we’re always playing really good tennis, so it’s fun to be out on the court with him,” he said.
The match was moved back several hours due to rain, and was eventually moved to Grandstand court in order to ensure that it would be played when the weather was still good.
“It’s definitely very difficult, getting ready for the rain,” said Shapovalov. “But it’s part of the sport and something you learn to do with experience.”
Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime, who could potentially meet in the final, are the first Canadians to reach the last four of the same Masters 1000 event since 2013.
Even more remarkably, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime are the sixth and seventh teenager to reach the semi-finals at the Miami Open. The other five players have combined to win 45 major singles titles.