By Canadian Press

Shapovalov falls to Djokovic in Canadian’s first Masters 1000 final

Nov 3, 2019 | 7:53 AM

PARIS — Denis Shapovalov’s first appearance in a Masters 1000 final didn’t end the way he wanted it to.

The Canadian was beaten by world No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday in the final of the Paris Masters.

The loss ends a solid week for Shapovalov, who will rise to a career-high No. 15 when the new rankings are released Monday. His previous career high was No. 20, and he came into the Paris Masters at No. 28.

Shapovalov defeated higher-ranked opponents in three straight matches to reach the semifinals of the tournament, including an upset over No. 6 Alexander Zverev in the round of 16. He advanced to Sunday’s final when Rafael Nadal withdrew with an abdominal injury before their match on Saturday.

Djokovic, who won his fifth title at the Paris Masters, improved to 4-0 against Shapovalov. All four of those wins have come this season.

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“Congrats to Novak, he’s put in so much work, so much effort over the year, and huge congrats to his team, they’ve done an incredible job,” Shapovalov said on court after the match.

Djokovic returned the praise when he was handed the mic.

“The best things are yet to come for you,” he said to Shapovalov.

Shapovalov fired 11 aces to Djokovic’s two and won 83 per cent of his first-service points. The Canadian also double-faulted three times.

Djokovic saved the only break point he faced over the course of the match, which lasted one hour eight minutes. He converted on two of four break points.

Sunday’s victory gave Djokovic his 77th career ATP title, tying John McEnroe for fifth all-time. It was also his 34th Masters 1000 titles, one back of Rafael Nadal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 3, 2019.

The Canadian Press