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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O S11
Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov
continued his impressive run at the Paris
Masters with a 6-2, 6-2 quarter-final win
over France’s Gaël Monfils on Friday.
Shapovalov was dominant in his latest
victory over a top opponent, building on
early breaks in both sets and not letting
13th-seed Monfils get into the match.
In a match that lasted just 59 minutes,
Shapovalov had 22 winners to just seven
for Monfils. Shapovalov had five aces, in-
cluding one on his first match point, and
converted four of five break points.
A mercurial player who went through a
significant mid-season slump, Shapovalov
looked at his best against Monfils, puni-
shing the veteran with hard and accurate
forehand shots.
The 20-year-old from Richmond Hill,
Ont., currently ranked 28th in the world,
posted his third straight win over a top-15
opponent. He also defeated 11th-seed Fa-
bio Fognini in the second round and
stunned world No. 6 Alexander Zverev in
the round of 16.
The win ensures Shapovalov will finish
the season with a top-20 ranking on the
ATP Tour. It also ended Monfils’s hopes of
reaching the season-ending ATP Finals in
London and sending U.S. Open semi-final-
ist Matteo Berrettini there instead.
Shapovalov will face No. 2 Rafael Nadal
in Saturday’s semi-finals. Nadal defeated
No. 35 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (4), 6-1 later
Friday.
The Spaniard would finish the year as
No. 1 if he wins the Paris Masters for the
first time.
Shortly after the match, ATP an-
nounced that Shapovalov was withdraw-
ing from the Next Gen Finals – a year-
ending tournament featuring eight play-
ers aged 21 and younger that starts Tues-
day – owing to fatigue and would be re-
placed by Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich
Fokina.
Earlier Friday, top seed Novak Djokovic
sped into the semi-finals by demolishing
seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2.
Djokovic, who lost to the Greek player
three weeks ago in the Shanghai quarter-
finals, did not concede a break point. It
could have been an even quicker victory,
considering he led the first set 5-0, 40-0,
but Tsitsipas saved three set points and
held serve.
The 16-time Grand Slam champion,
who is chasing a 77th career title, even
impressed himself.
Djokovic, last year’s runner-up, is bid-
ding for the year-ending No. 1 ranking. He
next plays U.S. Open semi-finalist Grigor
Dimitrov, and leads the unseeded Bulgar-
ian 8-1 in their career meetings with the
only defeat coming on outdoor clay six
years ago.
Dimitrov reached his second semi-final
this season by beating Cristian Garin 6-2,
7-5, dropping his serve twice and breaking
the Chilean’s five times.PLISKOVA ADVANCES, SVITOLINA
WINS AGAIN AT WTA FINALSSHENZHEN, CHINAKarolina Pliskova ad-
vanced to the semi-finals of the WTA Fi-
nals for the third straight year, beating
Simona Halep 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 on Friday,
shortly after defending champion Elina
Svitolina completed a near-perfect group
stage.
In the semi-finals, Pliskova will take ontop-ranked Ash Barty – Australia’s first fe-
male year-end No. 1.
Svitolina, who made it through the
group stage without dropping a set, beat
replacement Sofia Kenin 7-5, 7-6 (10) ear-
lier Friday. She will next face Belinda Ben-
cic.
Svitolina had already qualified for the
semi-finals from the Purple Group before
the match. She saved two set points in the
second set before finally winning the
match on her sixth match point.
Kenin was playing her only match of
the tournament after replacing injured
Canadian Bianca Andreescu.
“It was an amazing experience,” Kenin
said.
“I’m really happy to have experienced
it. Hopefully for next year I can actually
not be an alternate, yeah, and just play
here.”
The 12th-ranked Kenin, who earned
$165,000 for her appearance, was the sec-
ond alternate to see action this week. Kiki
Bertens took Naomi Osaka’s place after
the Japanese player withdrew with a right
shoulder injury ahead of her second
match. Bertens ended up retiring with a
virus against Bencic during her second
match on Thursday.THE ASSOCIATED PRESSShapovalovheadstoParisMasterssemis
MercurialCanadiankept
Monfilsdownthroughout
theshortmatch,e arning
22winnersandfiveaces
PARIS
Canada's Denis Shapovalov returns the ball to Gaël Monfils of France in their men's singles
quarter-final match at the Paris Masters on Friday. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native won
6-2, 6-2 and will next face Rafael Nadal on Saturday.MARTINBUREAU/AFPVIAGETTYIMAGESMatt Fitzpatrick turned a muff in-
to an unlikely par, closed with two
straight birdies for a five-under 67
and took a one-shot lead over Ro-
ry McIlroy going into the weekend
of the HSBC Champions.
Fitzpatrick had a nasty lie in the
rough just behind the 16th green
and tried to stab it with the putter,
only for the ball to pop straight up
and roll some 35 feet away. He
holed that for a par to keep a clean
card Friday. He was at 11-under 133.
McIlroy had his own problems
on the 16th, having to hit three
shots when the first one sailed in-
to trees. He scraped out a bogey
and finished with a 5-iron to three
feet at the 18th for eagle and a 67.
Defending champion Xander
Schauffele, still struggling with
remnants of the flu, rallied for a 69
and was two shots behind, along
with Adam Scott (69) and Im
Sung-jae (69).
Li Haotong of China lost
ground with a 72.HENDERSON THREE SHOTS BACK
AT LPGA SWINGING SKIRTSTAIWANMi Jung Hur shot a second
consecutive six-under 66 to take a
one-stroke lead after Friday’s sec-
ond round of the LPGA Swinging
Skirts. Hur, who is looking for her
third victory this season, is at 12-
under 132 over all. Defending
champion Nelly Korda (67) was
one shot back, while trying to win
her second LPGA title of the sea-
son and third of her career. Minjee
Lee (67) and In-Kyung Kim (65)
are two strokes behind. Brooke
Henderson shot a bogey-free
round of 64, the lowest round of
the tournament so far. The Cana-
dian hit a 3-wood from 225 yards
to five feet for an eagle on No. 12.
Henderson is three strokes be-
hind Mi after opening with a 71.THEASSOCIATEDPRESSFitzpatrick
takeslead
inShanghai
SHANGHAISPORTS |