(Stuttgart) Canadian Denis Shapovalov squandered a one-set lead and lost in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the first round of the tournament. Stuttgart lawn tennis on Tuesday.
Against an 86th-ranked ATP rival who had to go through qualifying, Shapovalov was erratic on serve, committing 11 double faults to just two aces.
The 24-year-old Ontarian, 29th in the world, finished the match with just a 44% success rate in first serves, despite winning 76% of the points after landing his first open serve.
However, Fucsovics was better in both categories, scoring 66% on first serve and winning 78% after placing his first serve.
Shapovalov was often struggling on his serve. He offered nine break points to Fucsovics, who converted three.
The Canadian took the lead in the match by making one of his two breaks of the day, in the fourth game of the initial set. This was enough to allow him to win this first round.
Fucsovics, however, forced a decisive set with his first break of the match, in the sixth game of the second set.
The 31-year-old Hungarian followed up with breaks in the first and fifth games of the third set en route to a comfortable 5-1 lead.
Shapovalov stayed in the duel by saving three match points in the seventh game, on his serve, before scoring his second break of the match, in the eighth game.
Serving with a 5-4 lead, Fucsovics lost the first two points in game 10, but won the next four to end the game.
