National Bank Open: Denis Shapovalov hopes to maintain momentum at home

Canadian Denis Shapovalov reflects on rediscovering his game en route to the Mifel Tennis Open title in Los Cabos, after a discouraging grass-court season, and explains why playing free and aggressive was key to his success.

Denis Shapovalov comes into his home tournament with two title wins under his belt already this season, the last one coming in Mexico at an ATP 250 event earlier this month.

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont. is still returning to form following a lengthy road back from a knee injury, and the 26-year-old opens National Bank Open presented by Rogers play Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET on centre court against 19-year-old American Learner Tien in what will be their first meeting. 

The world No. 29, Shapovalov is 19-14 on the season. After the Canadian’s match, No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany will take on world No. 84 Adam Walton of Australia.

Earlier in the day, Nicolas Arseneault, the 18-year-old wild-card entry from Richmond Hill, Ont., is in action following an upset win on Sunday. Tuesday is a much tougher test for Arseneault, who’ll face defending NBO champion Alexei Popyrin. 

Rough start for Canadian women

Leylah Fernandez won the biggest match of her career two days ago, but it wasn’t the same story in Montreal

Fresh off a win at the Citi DC Open in Washington, the 22-year-old from Laval, Que., lost her opener against Maya Joint in her opener at the NBO. The Australian rebounded after losing to Fernandez in a first-round match in Washington. 

  • Watch the National Bank Open on Sportsnet
  • Watch the National Bank Open on Sportsnet

    The stars of tennis hit the courts in Toronto and Montreal for the National Bank Open presented by Rogers. Catch live coverage of both tournaments on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.

    Broadcast Schedule

A busy day for Canadians did not start off well.

Veteran Rebecca Marino lost to American Emma Navarro before Bianca Andreescu withdrew from her second-round match after rolling her ankle in her opener.

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After No. 1 seed Coco Gauff takes the court to open the evening session, 18-year-old Victoria Mboko from Burlington, Ont., will close out action for the day. Mboko, who has rocketed up world rankings this season to a career-high No. 85, is set to take on world No. 27 Sofia Kenin. Mboko has beaten five players ranked in the world’s top 50 this season, and she’ll be looking to make it six tonight. 

BROADCAST SCHEDULE
(All times ET)
Women’s day and evening sessions: Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet+, 11 a.m., 7 p.m.
Men’s day and evening sessions: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet+, 11 a.m., 7 p.m.

MATCH SCHEDULE, WOMEN’S IN MONTREAL
Centre court (starts at 11 a.m.)

Rebecca Marino vs Emma Navarro 
Maya Joint vs Leylah Fernandez 
Aoi Ito vs Jasmine Paolini 

Not before 7 p.m.
Coco Gauff vs Danielle Collins 
Sofia Kenin vs Victoria Mboko 

Rogers (starts at 11 a.m.)
Dayana Yastremska vs Camila Osorio 
Marta Kostyuk vs Marketa Vondrousova 
Marie Bouzkova vs Diana Shnaider 

Not before 6 p.m.
Elena Rybakina vs Hailey Baptiste 
Suzan Lamens vs Beatriz Haddad Maia 

Court 5 (starts at 11 a.m.)

Anna Blinkova vs Daria Kasatkina 
Ann Li vs Anna Kalinskaya 
Veronika Kudermetova vs Olga Danilovic 

Court 9 (starts at 11 a.m.)
Alycia Parks vs Caty McNally 
Jaqueline Cristian vs Linda Noskova 
Ashlyn Krueger vs Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Lin Zhu 

MATCH SCHEDULE, MEN’S IN TORONTO

Centre court (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs Holger Rune 
Lorenzo Musetti vs James Duckworth 

Not before 7 p.m.
Denis Shapovalov vs Learner Tien 
Alexander Zverev vs Adam Walton 

Motorola razr Grandstand Court (starts at 11 a.m.)
Emilio Nava vs Terence Atmane
Karen Khachanov vs Juan Pablo Ficovich
Nicolas Arseneault vs Alexei Popyrin 

Not before 5 p.m. 
Roman Safiullin vs Casper Ruud 
Daniil Medvedev vs Dalibor Svrcina 

Court 1 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Tomas Barrios Vera vs Alex Michelsen
Corentin Moutet vs Jenson Brooksby 
Jaume Munar vs Francisco Cerundolo 
Reilly Opelka vs Tomas Machac

Court 4 (starts at 12:30 p.m.)
Alexandre Muller vs Miomir Kecmanovic 
Tallon Griekspoor vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry 
Nuno Borges vs Facundo Bagnis
Tristan Schoolkate vs Matteo Arnaldi

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