Denis Shapovalov wins first match on busy Thursday in Geneva

One down, one to go.

With the prospect of two matches in one day on the horizon, Denis Shapovalov got off to a winning start on Thursday morning with a three-set victory over Marco Cecchinato 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the Gonet Geneva Open.

It was Shapovalov’s first match of the event after receiving a first-round bye and having the match with Cecchinato held over from Wednesday.

The second seeded Canadian will play Laslo Djere later on Thursday.

Shapovalov and Cecchinato took to the court Wednesday night for their second-round encounter but did not make it past their chairs before returning to the dressing room due to heavy rain.

When they returned on Thursday morning, Shapovalov got the early advantage and had a chance to serve out the opening set at 5-3, 40-30, only let the opening slip away, ripping a backhand wide before double-faulting twice in a row to give the break back to Cecchinato.

The Italian took full advantage of his new lease on life, taking the opening set in a tiebreak.

Shapovalov struggled to find consistency in his game through the opening set and much of the second, but he upped his level just in time as the second set approached its climax.

As Cecchinato served to send the set to another tiebreak, the Canadian began using his big groundstrokes to push his opponent around the court. The result was a backhand wide from the Italian on break point to hand the game and the set to Shapovalov.

With the set came the momentum, as the second seed raced through the deciding set in just 29 minutes, ending the match by winning eight of the last nine games, breaking twice in the final set and closing out the match with four straight aces.

Shapovalov’s serve was erratic, as he struck 15 aces to nine double faults, only putting 58 percent of his first serves in play. However, he won 86 percent of his first serve points and saved four of five break points.

The day is not over for the Canadian, as he will meet Djere later today for a spot in the semi-finals.