Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov on Thursday night upset top-seeded Rafael Nadal 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the third round.
The 18-year-old Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ontario, advanced to a quarter-final with France’s Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-3, 6-3.
“It’s what I dreamed of all my life growing up, playing guys like Rafa, Roger [Federer], Andy [Murray],” Shapovalov said. “You know, my dream came true today.”
Photo: AP
Shapovalov has taken major strides this week to reach his goal of cracking the world’s top 100 with wins over Rogerio Dutra Silva and 2009 US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro.
He also halted Nadal’s bid to regain the No. 1 ranking, which the Spaniard could have achieved by reaching the semi-finals.
Shapovalov battled back after Nadal cruised through the first set, then erased a 3-0 deficit in the tiebreaker for the biggest victory of his career.
Shapovalov became the youngest player to reach the tournament’s quarter-finals since Bjorn Borg in 1974.
With hockey great Wayne Gretzky and Olympic swimming star Penny Oleksiak cheering for him from the seats, he also became the youngest quarter-finalist at a Masters Series tournament ever and is the youngest to beat a player ranked in the top two in the world since Nadal beat Federer in 2004 in Miami.
“He has a great potential. I wish him the best. He has everything to become a great player. He played with the right determination in the important moments,” Nadal said.
Meanwhile, Federer overcame a weak first set to post a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Spaniard David Ferrer in an earlier third-round match.
In the quarter-finals, the second-seeded Federer is to face 12th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, who outlasted Frenchman Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-2) on center court.
Unseeded Argentine Diego Schwartzman posted a strange win over American Jared Donaldson 0-6, 7-5, 7-5 to advance to a quarter-final meeting with 52nd-ranked Dutchman Robin Haase.
Kevin Anderson of South Africa downed American Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-1 and is to next play fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, who ousted 16th-seeded Nick Kyrgios 6-4, 6-3.
In the women’s contest, Karolina Pliskova advanced to the quarter-finals when Japanese qualifier Naomi Osaka was forced to retire because of an injury.
The world’s top-ranked player moved on with a 6-2, 6-7 (7-4), 1-0 victory when Osaka had to retire because of an abdominal injury.
It was not immediately clear when Osaka suffered the injury. She was in form during the tiebreaker, firing a service winner to convert her second set point under the warm sun.
The world’s No. 50 player received treatment after the match and did not speak to reporters.
Pliskova is to move on to play sixth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, who defeated 10th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland 6-3, 6-1.
Second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania needed only 59 minutes to breeze by Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-0, while American Sloane Stephens upset third-seeded German Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-2.
Later on Thursday, fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina defeated American Venus Williams 6-2, 6-1, and Spain’s Garbine Muguruza beat Australian qualifier Ashleigh Barty 6-0, 3-6, 6-2.
In doubles, Taiwan’s Chuang Chia-jung and Renata Voracova of the Czech Republic fell to American Nicole Melichar and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-4, 6-3.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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