U.S. Open: Who is Canadian rising star Denis Shapovalov?
Canadian teen Denis Shapovalov broke through with a 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (3) victory against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No. 8 seed, in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday night.
For those who haven't followed Shapovalov's rise in tennis, here are few things to know about the 18-year-old ranked No. 69 in the world.
The win at Arthur Ashe on Wednesday was the second-biggest of Shapovalov's career. He beat then No. 2 Rafael Nadal, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) in Montreal on Aug. 10. With the victory, Shapovalov became the youngest player to beat a top 2 opponent in a non-retired finish since Nadal beat No. 1 Roger Federer in 2004.
This is the first U.S. Open for Shapovalov, who was born in Tel Aviv and moved to Canada with his family as a baby. His mother, Tessa, is a tennis coach who taught Denis to play at age 5.
More: Maria Sharapova rallies to beat Timea Babos and reach third round at U.S. Open
More: U.S. Open: Venus Williams makes plea for Houston after second-round win
Last year Shapovalov won a junior title at Wimbledon and got himself into the Top 250 for the first time.
He earned a spot on the Davis Cup team, but an incident in February during a match against Kyle Edmund would brand him a villain in tennis circles.
After being broken by Edmund in the third set, Shapovalov unintentionally hit a ball that smacked the chair umpire in the face. "I was in shock and sick with worry that I injured (chair umpire Arnaud Gabas)," Shapovalov wrote in a post for the ATP website in May. "In the following days, I needed to face up to my stupid action and realized how quickly life can change. I let a lot of people down, including my country, Davis Cup teammates, supporters, and fans. I knew I couldn't undo what happened, so the only thing left was to face my mistake and work on never letting this happen again."
For his part, Shapovalov continues to answer questions about the incident. On Friday, he'll play Britain's Edmund in a third-round match so the question came up again in New York.
"I don't know, maybe you guys can tell me if, like, I've come a long way from the incident," he said after beating Tsonga. "Yeah, I've been working extremely hard on it. It's definitely helped me mature. But I don't think this match has anything to do with it.
"I've apologized constantly before, and I continue to apologize for my actions. It's something I have to live with. But for me it's in the past and I'm a different person and a different player now."
More on Shapo:
Height/Weight: 6-0, 167
Career singles titles: 0
Career prize money: $418,421
Favorite surface: Grass and favorite shot is forehand
Favorite player growing up: Roger Federer
Favorite NHL team: Toronto Maple Leafs