New Delhi: It was not just a dream, it was something that most tennis fans yearned to see. To see Rafael Nadal scale up the ladder to reclaim the No. 1 ranking on the ATP rankings chart. But all went in vain as the Spaniard lost to Denis Shapovalov 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, today.


COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

Ahead of the Montreal tournament, present World No. 1 Andy Murray announced his withdrawal from the tournament owing to recovery from hip injury. In doing so, it kept a clear road upto the numero uno spot on the rankings chart for Rafael Nadal. With just few hundred points behind the Brit, the 31-year-old had the opportunity to reclaim the No. 1 spot for the first time since June 2014, with the condition of a semi-final showing.


However, after successfully edging past Coric in Round of 32, the 15-time Grand Slam winner succumbed to failure in the third round to Canadian teenager Shapovalov.


Shapovalov was the obvious crowd favourite, but Nadal's impressive first set win shut the packed Centre Court. This, however, didn't take a toll on the teenager as he bounced back to a sensational 6-4 win over the Spaniard, thereby pushing for a third set. In the decider, Nadal went up 3-0 to pile up pressure on the 2016 Wimbledon Junior champion, but Shapovalov fought back with two ravishing aces and then script an upset over Nadal, just putting his hope of becoming the Wolrd No. 1 on a hold.


With his victory on home turf, the 18-year-old became the youngest ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finalist and also the second youngest player to defeat Rafael Nadal.




It's my worst loss of the year because it's a loss to the opponent with the lowest ranking and because I had chance to be No. 1," he told reporters. "He played well. He has great potential. I wish him the best. He played with the right determination."


Roger Federer on the other hand has sailed into the quarters with a sensational 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 win over David Ferrer.