Resurgent Shapovalov sets up Medvedev showdown in Vienna final

Canada’s Denis Shapovalov scored a straight sets win over Croatian Borna Coric to move into the final of the Vienna Open at the Wiener Stadthalle on Saturday and continue his recent resurgence on the ATP Tour.

After a hard-fought battle in the first set, the left-handed Shapovalov cruised in the second to complete the 7-6 (4), 6-0 win over Coric in one hour and 28 minutes. The result levels the head-to-head between the two players at 2-2 with both of Shapovalov wins coming this month itself – the first in the Tokyo quarter-finals three weeks ago.

In the earlier rounds this week, the Canadian defeated Austrian wildcard Jurij Rodionov (6-4, 6-4), American Taylor Fritz, the No 4 seed (6-1, 4-6, 6-3) and Britain’s Dan Evans (6-3, 6-3).

Shapovalov has won 15 of his last 20 matches on the tour

The 19th ranked Canadian will face top seed Daniil Medvedev in the final. Medvedev had defeated former world No 3 Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-2 in the first semi-final of the day.

Sunday will mark Shapoavlov’s sixth ATP final, as compared to the 27th for Medvedev. The Canadian, who is gunning for his first title of 2022, has turned his season around after losing six matches in a row from the French Open until his first round win at Wimbledon, which was again followed by three consecutive losses. Since then, Shapovalov has won 15 of his last 20 matches on the tour.

Shapovalov trails the Russian 3-2 in career head-to-head – all on hard courts – but has lost the last three matches between the pair. The Canadian won their first round match at the 2017 US Open in straight sets and round of 32 clash in Washington in three sets the following year.

Since then, Medvedev has won all their three matches in straight sets – 2018 Tokyo, 2021 Laver Cup and 2022 Cincinnati.

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