Teen sensation, Denis Shapovalov announced himself on the circuit by over-powering Rafael Nadal in a packed Uniprix Stadium at the Montreal Masters.
Having already beaten Juan Martin Del Potro this year, Shapovalov would be hoping to break into the top 100 and go deep in the US Open as well.
Rafa Nadal would be abject about this loss, as a semi-final appearance would have brought him back the World Number 1 crown.
Nadal cruised through the first set, shrugging off Shapovalov’s ‘moments of brilliance’ to take a 1 set lead, but Shapovalov wasn’t going away.
The crowd urged him on, roared at every of his booming serves and just didn’t let him get affected by the stature of his opponent.
Nadal and Shapovalov exchanged breaks in the 2nd set, but the Junior Wimbledon Champion was able to hold his nerve and serve out the set, 6-4.
The decider was a rip-roaring one, with the crowd getting involved through and through.
Shapovalov had to fend off Nadal’s experience and was able to carve his ground strokes to perfection, to take the final set into a tie breaker. But catastrophe struck when Nadal took a 3-0 lead in the tie breaker.
Shapovalov then rode on his serve and fearless stroke play to register the biggest win of his career so far.
He will now face Adrian Mannarino of France in the quarter finals, after he beat Hyeon Chung of South Korea 6-3, 6-3.
This is how Twitter reacted to this massive, massive upset.
