Tennis Picks

DENIS SHAPOVALOV

• Denis Shapovalov beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert in straight sets to face second-seed Dominic Thiem in the second round of the Montreal Open.
• The Canadian seemed to enjoy the home support in Montreal, where he reached as far as the semi-finals back in 2017 before losing to Alexander Zverev.
• The win over Herbert takes 20-year-old Shapovalov up to 16-16 for 2019 where he reached a career high world number 20 in April before dropping back to 32 now.

DOMINIC THIEM

• World number four Dominic Thiem is seeded second at this year’s Montreal Open and is coming off a home title win at the Generali Open in Austria on his favoured clay.
• The 25-year-old has never won at the Montreal Open in five attempts but has received his fourth consecutive bye to the second round.
• Thiem was the victor in the only previous meeting between he and Denis Shapovalov on a hard court at the Mexican Open in 2018.

1.What is the shape of the players in the last 5 matches?

• Denis Shapovalov
• Last result: 2-0 vs Pierre Hugues Herbert (Montreal – Canada)
• Shape: W L W W W

20-year-old Canadian Denis Shapovalov, 32nd in the ATP standings, returns to Rogers Coupe after two years, being present for the second time in his career on the main table of the Masters 1000 tournament.Eliminated since the inaugural round of the Wimbledon Grand Slam, United Kingdom, after 6-7, 4-6 and 3-6 in front of Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis, the world number 77, Shapovalov outscored the Frenchman in the first round in Montreal. Pierre-Hugues Herbert, 40th place ATP, 6-3 and 7-5.

• Dominic Thiem
• Last result: 2-0 vs Albert Ramos Vinolas (Kitzbuhel – Austria)
• Shape: W W W W L

After the elimination suffered at Wimbledon, since the first round, Thiem checked a presence in the quarterfinals of the tournament in Hamburg, where he gave up a 6-7 double in the company of world number 70, Russian Andrey Rublev. Then followed an excellent evolution in the ATP 250 tournament in Kitzbuhel, Austria, where he was awarded the trophy played by the organizers, imposing in the final, in minimum sets, 7-6 and 6-1 in in front of the Spanish Albert Ramos-Vinolas, 52nd place ATP.At the Rogers Coupe, in Canada, where he has so far failed to overcome the second round of the competition, Dominic Thiem, 4th in the ATP hierarchy is present on the main board for the third time in his career.

2.News, analysis, statistics and progress about the 2 players.

• Two years ago he managed to reach the semi-finals of the competition
• The 20th place in the ATP hierarchy represents the best ranking of the young Canadian tennis player
• In the double, he pairs with the Indian Rohan Bopanna
• 82% is the percentage of games won by the Canadian on his own service.
• He managed 872 aces throughout his career
• He has 14 ATP trophies, three of them being won this year
• Won 98 of the 166 matches played on the hard surface, throughout his career
• Just two months ago he played the final of Roland Garros, lost to Rafael Nadal, score 1-3 at sets
• The percentage of fruity break balls is 39%
• He committed 1091 double mistakes throughout his professional career

Tennis Prediction of the Day Denis Shapovalov vs Dominic Thiem

On paper this match would appear to be a hotly-contested defeat for Denis Shapovalov, but the home support for the Canadian, coupled with Thiem’s terrible 0-5 record here in five years swings it in Shapovalov’s favour. The 20-year-old has shown flashes of brilliance in his young career, and might do well in the shadow of new Canadian starlet Felix Auger-Aliassime, while Thiem’s win in Austria on Saturday might lessen the Austrian’s focus here, especially as he has received the bye. Thiem will fight for his place in the draw but could be caught out if Shapovalov starts at pace, with the crowd able to pull the youngster over the line.

Prediction Today: Dominic Thiem

Odds: 1.63