By Canadian Press

Canada’s Andreescu continues winning ways at U.S. Open, Shapovalov stumbles out

Sep 4, 2021 | 8:49 PM

NEW YORK — On a day where Canada’s Bianca Andreescu continued to roll at the U.S. Open, Denis Shapovalov stumbled out of the tournament.

The sixth-seeded Andreescu defeated Belgium’s Greet Minnen 6-1, 6-2 in one hour, seven minutes Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the women’s singles draw. 

Andreescu converted four-of-seven break opportunities to improve to 10-0 at the Grand Slam following her 2019 title.

By comparison, Minnen was 0-for-4 when she had the Canadian in break situations.

“I think I played really well,” Andreescu said. “This is what I’ve been working towards in practice, and I’m very pleased with my return games, with my service games, with my movement on court, also with my attitude.”

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On the men’s side, seventh-seeded Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., failed to advance to the fourth round after being upset in straight sets by unseeded South African Lloyd Harris on Saturday evening.

Shapovalov lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Harris in two hours 13 minutes in the third-round match.

After dropping the first set, Shapovalov broke Harris early to take a 3-0 lead in the second set but he could not hold on. The Canadian was again up a break in the third set but was broken right back.

The 22-year-old made nine unforced errors in the match and won 68 per cent (43 of 63) of his first serve points. 

Shapovalov failed to join Canadians Leylah Fernandez, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andreescu in the fourth round. 

Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., dominated the opening set, which lasted only 23 minutes. She won 93 per cent of points on her first serve and 67 per cent on her second – Minnen was 50 per cent and 29 per cent, respectively.

The Canadian also had the only two aces of the opening set and was 2-of-3 on break points.

Andreescu didn’t skip a beat in the second, registering two service breaks en route to taking a commanding 4-0 lead. Even more impressive was in the second game, she rallied from 0-40 to hold serve and go up 2-0.

Minnen finally held serve in the fifth game to make it 4-1 but Andreescu also held to make it 5-1. After narrowly missing a fifth service break in the seventh game, Andreescu served the match out to advance. 

Andreescu was playing on the same Louis Armstrong Stadium court that Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime registered his five-set win over Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Friday.

Minnen’s loss was actually her second to a Canadian in the tournament. She lost in three sets to Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino in the final round of qualifying but became a last-minute entrant after Latvian Jelena Ostapenko withdrew before the start of the tournament Monday.

By reaching the third round, Minnen earned US$180,000.

Andreescu registered 21 winners and only 11 unforced errors in the match, becoming the second Canadian to reach the fourth round of the women’s draw. On Friday night, Fernandez of Laval, Que., upset two-time U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka in three sets.

Up next for Andreescu will be 17th-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece. The French Open semifinalist downed 10th-seeded Petra Kvitova 6-4, 6-3 as the Czech player made 34 unforced errors and had just 16 winners.

Andreescu and Sakkari last met in April at the Miami Open, with the Canadian taking the match in a third-set tie-breaker.

“I’m super excited to play against her,” Andreescu said. “We had a very, very tough match in Miami and I’m sure it’s going to be the same.

“She’s very powerful, she serves very well, she moves well and she’s a fighter. But I’m also all those things so it’s going to be good. I’m pumped.”

In men’s doubles action, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil and Denmark’s Frederik Nielsen lost their second-round match to Romania’s Horia Tecau and German Kevin Krawietz 7-6 (12) 7-6 (4).

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 4, 2021.

The Canadian Press