Albot upsets Shapovalov in Sofia, moves on to next round

Radu Albot upset Denis Shapovalov at the Sofia Open moving on to the next round thanks to some clever tennis.

It took only 75 minutes for Radu Albot to upset Denis Shapovalov at the Sofia Open beating him 6-2 6-4. The opening set started off better for Shapovalov who had the first break point which the Moldovan saved. Shapovalov then won his own service game without dropping a point and it seemed like a routine day for him. Yet trouble quickly arose as Albot started to return much better and Shapovalov did not know how to handle that. He lost his serve going down 5-2 before losing it once more to lose the opening set 6-2. He hit less than 40 % of his first serves and also had three doubles faults. As someone who relies on his serve big-time that proved too much to overcome for Shapovalov.

The 2nd set initially started shaky for Shapovalov who still struggled with Albot's return so he had to save two break points early in the 2nd set in order to stay in the match. After he did that successfully he settled in a bit and started playing and serving much better. Albot remained calm focusing on his own serve while he patiently waited when receiving. His assumption was correct in that Shapovalov would have a game where he struggled which came late in the set at 5-4 and Albot found himself with a match point. He didn't hesitate, converting it immediately for a huge upset especially considering the form of the Moldovan recently.