Cincinnati (USA) – After crashing in the rookie rounds in Washington and Montreal, Denis Shapovalov got off to a strong start at the Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. The Canadian beat the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, 18th in the standings and champion of the tournament in 2017, by 7/6 (7-4) and 6/3 in 1h28 of the match.

Along with winning his first match since Wimbledon, Shapovalov also scores his second win in the last ten games. Prior to the London Grand Slam, he was winless from the good run until the Rome Masters 1000 semi-final in May.

Much more aggressive than his opponent on Monday, Shapovalov made 28 winning shots against Dimitrov’s only 7, and committed 29 unforced errors against the Bulgarian’s 20. The Canadian fired ten aces against just two, escaped the two break points he faced and got the only break of the game.

After a first set without breaks and defined only in the tie-break, the Canadian was superior in the second set. In a partial with fast games and definite runs with few ball changes, he faced no break points and only conceded seven points in his service games, the break came in the sixth game , after a double fault by his opponent. Shapovalov jumped from 2/2 to 5/2 and set the game up confirming the zero serve.

Formerly in the top 10, Shapovalov currently ranks 21st at 23 and now has 18 wins this season. After the victory in the duel between players in the one-handed backhand, the Canadian will certainly face a player at home, from the duel between Tommy Paul and Jenson Brooksby.