GENEVA, Switzerland – Canadian Denis Shapovalov dropped the flag in the second round at the Geneva Open.
Belarusian Ilya Ivashka beat Shapovalov 6-4, 6-7 (2), 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes.
Ivachka, ranked 50th in the world, was slightly better on serve than the 23-year-old Ontarian. Shapovalov gave one break point and saved.
For his part, Shapovalov allowed eight break opportunities for Ivashka, who converted two.
One of those breaks came in the fifth game of the first set, after Ivashka missed three chances to advance in Shapovalov’s first two matches on serve.
In this first set, Shapovalov won only nine points for serving his opponent. Three of these points were obtained during the tenth match allowing the Canadian to save the most group points. Ivashka managed to complete the first set on her fourth attempt.
In the second set, Shapovalov saved three more break points before dominating the tiebreak with small breaks in the second and sixth stages.
But the Canadian could not continue his momentum in the third set. Ivashka scored the second break of the match in the fourth game and maintained her lead by giving up only four points in the next three matches on serve.
Ivashka closed the books on her first chance in the third set, and netted her first win over Shapovalov after three straight losses, all on the hard court.
Shapovalov, ranked third and fifteenth in the world, was farewelled in the first round and was in his first match in the tournament.
In the quarter-finals, Ivashka will face Portugal’s Joao Sousa, who won 6-4, 6-3 over Georgian fifth seed Nikoloz Basilashvili.
In other matches, Wednesday, fourth-seeded American Riley Opelka beat Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-3, 7-5, Dutchman Talon Grixpor beat Swiss Johan Nickelis 6-3, 7-5, and Norway’s Casper Rudd, seeded 2, beat the French. Benoit Pierre 6-3, 6-1 and Australian Tanase Kokinakis 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 over Argentine seventh seed Federico Delbonis.
