Britain's Andy Murray still No 1 after Rafael Nadal loses in Montreal
Friday 11 August 2017 07:09, UK
Britain's Andy Murray will remain world No 1 for another week after 18-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov stunned Rafael Nadal at the Montreal Masters on Thursday.
Top seed Nadal needed to reach the semi-finals to replace the injured Murray at the top of the rankings this week but was beaten in a thrilling last-16 tie against the world No 143.
Shapovalov delighted his home crowd late in the Montreal night as he recorded a 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/4) victory in two hours 45 minutes.
The youngster responded impressively to Nadal easing through the first set to force a decider, where Shapovalov saved three break points before winning an epic 14-minute third game, which included 10 deuces.
The pair continued to trade games up until a tie-break, where Nadal saw a 3-0 lead evaporate by the first change of ends.
He edged ahead again but Shapovalov won the next three points to bring up match point, which he took at the first attempt with a forehand winner.
Nadal will overtake Murray in the rankings after next week's Cincinnati Masters, but faces a challenge from Roger Federer, who could prevent the Spaniard reaching top spot for the first time since 2014.
Federer saw his winning streak of 32 consecutive sets end against David Ferrer but bounced back to reach the last eight, the Wimbledon champion battling to a 4-6 6-4 6-2 success over Spain's Ferrer.
Federer, 36, had never lost in 16 previous meetings with the 35-year-old Spaniard, who he first defeated 14 years ago at the Vienna Indoor tournament.
The world No 3's overall record in 2017 is now 33-2 but he was far from his fluid best in an error-strewn display.
With Federer slowly improving his first serve as the match wore on, Ferrer was unable to carve out the break opportunities he had found in the first set.
He went on to lose his serve five times in total and could only convert three break points from 13 opportunities.
An early break in the decider put Federer in control as a weary Ferrer began to tire and a characteristically deft volley clinched the match.
Federer will next play against Roberto Bautista Agut, who overcame Gael Monfils in three sets, but he will be troubled by the 47 unforced errors he made against Ferrer.
Bautista Agut out-lasted Monfils 4-6 7-6 (7/5) 7-6 (7/2) in just short of three hours while Argentina's Diego Schwartzman recovered after failing to take a game in the opening set to beat USA's Jared Donaldson 0-6 7-5 7-5.
World No 36 Schwartzman will play Holland's Robin Haase who overcame Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7/3) 4-6 6-1.
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