Canada’s Denis Shapovalov will look to pull off one of the biggest victories of his career when he faces Spanish star Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday (Monday in Canada, approximately 10 p.m. ET).
The 14th-seeded Shapovalov is an underdog against one of the greatest players to ever play the sport, but he has had success against the sixth-seeded Nadal in the past and has been in good form in Australia.
Here’s a look at the match between a pair of left-handers in capsule form:
Road to the quarters
After four- and five-set wins against unseeded opponents to open the tournament, Shapovalov dispatched No. 23 Reilly Opelka of the United States in four sets and then knocked off No. 3 Alexander Zverev of Germany in straight sets.
Nadal has lost just one set all tournament — in a four-set win over the only seeded opponent he has faced, No. 28 Karen Khachanov of Russia in the third round.
Grand Slam history
Nadal, 35, is tied with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic for most Grand Slam men’s singles titles in history with 20. With both Federer and Djokovic not competing in Australia, the door is open for Nadal to take the lead, but he has won the season-opening Grand Slam just once (2009).
Shapovalov, 22, had never advanced past the third round of the Australian Open prior to this year. His best Grand Slam showing is a semifinal appearance last year at Wimbledon (losing to eventual champion Djokovic in straight sets).
Head to head
Nadal leads the career series 3-1, with Shapovalov’s lone win a memorable quarterfinal at the Rogers Cup in 2017 in Montreal. That win sent Shapovalov on the road to being named Canada’s male athlete of the year.
Their most recent meeting was very close with Nadal winning a third-set tiebreak on his preferred clay surface in Rome last year. Nadal rallied after losing the first set and saved two match points.
Coming back from COVID
Both players contracted COVID-19 after playing in an exhibition tournament late last month in Abu Dhabi.
Nadal, who ended his 2021 campaign last August because of a foot issue, won a tune-up event in Melbourne before the Aussie Open.
Shapovalov went 3-1 in helping Canada win the ATP Cup before the Grand Slam.
The draw
The victor faces the winner of a match between No. 7 Matteo Berrettini of Italy and No. 17 Gael Monfils of France.
Coaching change
Shapovalov is working with a new coach in Jamie Delgado — Andy Murray’s former coach.
Canadian corner
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has also advanced to the quarterfinals. He’ll face Croatia’s Marin Cilic on Wednesday. Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime are just the third and fourth Canadians to reach the Aussie Open quarterfinals — Milos Raonic has done it five times and Mike Belkin accomplished the feat way back in 1968.
Nadal’s take on Shapovalov
“As everybody knows, he’s one of the players with the biggest potential on the tour,” Nadal said after his fourth-round win over Adrian Mannarino. “When I played against him (in 2017) after the match, I said he’s going to be a potential multi-Grand Slam winner. And I still think if he’s able to keep improving, he’ll be a multi-Grand Slam winner. He has a lot of amazing things (about) his game. His results say that. When he’s playing well, he’s very difficult to stop.”
Shapovalov vs. Nadal: Australian Open quarterfinal tale of the tape
Source: Pinas Ko Mahal
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