Well, this should be fun.
Canada’s best male tennis players, Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov will meet for the first time on the ATP Tour this Thursday, in the Round of 16 at the Madrid Open.
Here’s what you need to know about the all-Canadian matchup.
What’s at stake?
The 2018 season hasn’t seen either of these two talents truly take off, though both players have been rounding into form recently.
Shapovalov has been far busier, building off his breakout 2017 campaign with regular victories at ATP tournaments. Last year at this time, the 19-year-old was still participating in Challenger events. His best results this year would have to be a semifinal appearance at Delray Beach or his Round of 16 performance at the Miami Open. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native also represented Canada at its Davis Cup loss to Croatia in February.
Raonic has been steadily making his climb up the rankings after missing time with various ailments. His season got off to a rough start, and his opening-round loss at the Australian Open knocked the one-time world No. 3 out of the ATP’s top 30. But the “Maple Leaf Missile” has been showing signs of life lately, making the semifinals at Indian Wells, before falling in the quarters at Miami.
The 27-year-old has already matched the 90 points he earned at last year’s Madrid Open by making the Round of 16, but a win here would go a long way towards his charge back towards the top 10. He currently finds himself ranked 24th in the world, Shapovalov 43rd.
Reaching the quarters of a Masters 1000 event is worth 180 points.
The winner of this match will face the winner of David Goffin and Kyle Edmund in the quarterfinals.
When do they actually play?
No earlier than 8 a.m. ET on Thursday, but quite possibly later as the two will have to wait for Goffin-Edmund (6 a.m. start) to finish.
How’d they get here?
Raonic eliminated Argentinian qualifier Nicolas Kicker in straight sets before coming through with what might have been his best match of the season: a three-set win over Bulgaria’s Gregor Dimitrov for his first victory against a top-10 player this season.
Shapovalov had no trouble with Australian Open quarterfinalist Tennys Sandgren before outlasting the tricky Benoit Paire in three sets.
Style points
We have the hard-serving righty, against a flashy lefty known for his shot-making ability in Shapovalov.
The youngster should get plenty of opportunities to impress with his passing shots as you can bet Raonic will look to end points quickly at the net.
Raonic will try to get as many shots as possible off on his forehand, and will look to end points quickly. His serve, ranked fifth-best on the ATP, overpowered Dimitrov’s one-handed backhand at times in their match and it will be interesting to see how Shapovalov approaches his return game.
While Shapovalov isn’t particularly known for his defensive game, he will likely have to rely on his countering abilities to knock off the hard-hitting Canadian.
This match also brings a stark contrast in on-court temperaments with the fiery Shapovalov meeting the zen-like composure of Raonic.
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