Shapovalov Run at The Rogers Cup Ends After Loss to Robin Haase

The crowds attending Friday’s quarter-final between Denis Shapovalov and Robin Hasse were there in support of the only remaining Canadian left in the tournament hoping he would advance to the semi-finals.

However, that hope was washed away after Shapovalov lost to Hasse in two straight sets (7-5, 6-2). As Shapovalov took his seat in front of reporters after the match, he took a long breath and said that “Unfortunately, I had a bit of an off day.”

Shapovalov’s poor performance means his time at the Rogers Cup is over. This was a disappointment for fans who watched in delight during his round three match against Fabio Fognini ended with the Canadian winning in two sets.

The disappointment in his performance was evident as Shapovalov sent his final return over the net. Looking up towards the sky, he went to the net, shook hands with Hasse and quietly left the court. Today’s match took just over an hour, one that saw Shapovalov make error after error. He was dominated in the second set by Hasse, and the frustration showed.

Shapovalov often looked for support from his Mother and coach, shrugging his shoulders as if he had no excuse. The frustration came out when he hit his racket after hitting the net on a backhand return, and Hasse broke his serve multiple times in the second set.

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What was clear was that Hasse controlled the play, and for Shapovalov, it was hard to find positives from today’s loss. During post-match interviews, he said,

“It’s tough. I’m such a professional, it’s tough to take out good things right now out of the match.”

The one positive was Shapovalov remained professional and didn’t lose his temper. The last two days of play have seen a number of bigger named players falling to less ranked players. One of those was Novak Djokovic, who lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Shapovalov, who is 18, had a fantastic run last year at the Montreal Rogers Cup making it through to the semi-finals. Still, in his teens, he is ranked 26th in the world. He has a good start against Hasse and didn’t give up a point during his first serve game and was up 0-40 in the second game of the first set.

Shapovalov has a powerful serve and was solid at the beginning of the match, but quickly seem to lose his position, a clear change from his performances earlier in the week. Shapovalov only managed to hit half of his first serves and had double faults six times.

Commenting on Hasse game, Shapovalov said that it was difficult to play the slower pace that Hasse seemed content with and that the wind and subsequent rain made it harder to play his usual aggressive plan of attack.

“Robin did a good job today of really playing with my game, and he played me really smart today. Obviously, I wasn’t having a good day. I think if I have a better day and I’m feeling it, you know, I’ll obviously be making a lot more shots and taking it to the guy. He saw that I was missing quite a bit today so that he kept doing that slowing down the play. I don’t think it’s going to be an issue for the next time.”

As the match came to an end, Shapovalov rotated in a circle to acknowledge fans and show his appreciation. Hasse will now play Karen Khachanov from Russia in the quarter-finals. For punters keen on getting in bets for the Rogers Cup quarter-finals, why not register with one of our trusted and respected Canadian sportsbooks. One of those we recommend is 888Sport, a top rated sports betting site offering new players up to $250 in sign-up bonuses, let alone a variety of on-going betting promotions geared towards tennis and other favoured sports such as the MBL, NBA and NHL.