Shapovalov Denies Altmaier Comeback to Advance at Wimbledon

Photo : Martin Sidorjak

A day after Félix Auger-Aliassime was surprised from two sets up, Denis Shapovalov narrowly avoided suffering the same fate as he hung on to beat Daniel Altmaier in five sets on Thursday at Wimbledon.

Like his countryman, Shapovalov was in control up two sets to love, only to see his opponent battle back to force a fifth. In the decider, the 2022 semifinalist got an early lead and played a near-perfect set on serve to advance to the third round at the All England Club with a 7-6(3), 6-3, 1-6, 6-7(3), 6-4 win.

As always, Shapovalov went big, firing 51 winners but also committing 58 unforced errors, more than twice his opponent. While his serve was clutch when he needed it, winning 71 per cent of his first serve points and saving 50 per cent of break points, he also double-faulted 16 times.

Shapovalov was a bit up and down in the opening set, breaking in the fifth game only to gift the break back with an error-filled game for 4-4.

He managed to find his highest level when it mattered most, though, playing a clean tiebreaker where he won every point on his own serve while earning a few errors from Altmaier to take the opening set.

Read also: Shapovalov Topples Jarry

An early break to start the second set proved decisive for the Canadian as he drew an error with some big hitting to take a 2-0 lead. Altmaier never came close to getting the break back as Shapovalov only dropped nine points on serve on his way to a two-set lead.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Shapovalov’s level vanished in the third set after he failed to convert a break point in the second game. Errors and poorly timed double faults haunted the Canadian throughout the set as he fell behind love-40 twice and was broken both times.

A sloppy game to open the fourth, including two double faults, put Shapovalov in a hole he struggled to dig out of. He had to save more break points in the fifth game before Altmaier briefly dropped his level long enough to hand the break back for 4-4.

But it was just a blip for the German, who was still very much in charge of the fourth set. He failed to convert a break point at 5-5 but raced out to a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak which he never relinquished to send the match to a fifth set.

Once again, the momentum seemed to completely flip out of nowhere. Having dominated the last two sets, Altmaier picked the worst possible moment to play his worst game of the match, hitting four straight errors to drop serve to love in the opening game of the fifth set.

From there, Shapovalov locked in on his serve and never gave his opponent a chance to get back in it. In the entire fifth set, the Canadian lost just two points on serve as he rode that opening break to victory.

Shapovalov is through to the third round at Wimbledon for the third time in the last four years. Getting back to the last sixteen is critical for the Canadian as his points from Wimbledon 2023, a fourth-round appearance, account for 34 per cent of his total ranking points but are also the last points he has to defend in 2024.

Standing between him and the last sixteen will be No. 14 seed Ben Shelton.

Written By

Pete Borkowski