After an interesting experience in Marseille, Denis Shapovalov moved on to the Rotterdam Open, where he had to play the qualifiers, though he didn't have any issues in the first one.
The Rotterdam Open is a very strong ATP 500 event and has traditionally been so. Due to his ranking (127) not being where it once was, Shapovalov had to play the qualifiers, and he drew Maximilian Marterer in the first round of the qualifying.
It was the first qualifying match Shapovalov had to play since the 2017 US Open. Marterer is a decent player who can do some damage indoors, so it was a nice challenge for the Canadian.
Nobody really expected Shapovalov to cruise easily, as his match last week showed. He's playing at a decent level but not at the top level he once was. Getting there will require some time, as he battled a lot of injuries last year, but wins like this certainly help.
The opening set was a close one, even though Shapovalov had several chances to break. Eventually, he only got it done very late in the set, sealing it 7-5 after a weaker service game by Marterer.
The match required Shapovalov to be very patient with his play because chances didn't come around often. When they did come, you needed to be very focused to use them, and for the most part, Shapovalov was able to do so.
He had five break chances in the match and converted two of them, which is a pretty okay percentage considering the indoor nature of the match. The second set was another close one, as neither player struggled too much on serve.
The first break chances came for Shapovalov at 4-4 in the second set, and he converted them to take a 5-4 lead and then close it out in the next one. The final score was 7-5, 6-4.
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