Denis Shapovalov may blame the whims of Mother Nature for his poor performance against Ugo Humbert on Friday, but the result is the same: the Canadian suffered another singles loss, this time in Indian Wells.
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After several interruptions due to rain, “Shapo” and his rival were finally able to complete their evening match in California. The Ontarian, however, crashed out in the second set in a 7-5, 6-4 loss.
Shapovalov, 25th seed, has a habit of getting in the way. He looked decrepit as he slipped 3-1 leads in the first set and 4-1 in the second set.
The representative of the maple leaf committed no less than 14 double faults in just 1h 39 min of play. His inconsistency in possession of the balls allowed Humbert to enjoy 11 break points.
The Frenchman, 77th racket in the world, only had to convert four of these opportunities to save himself with the victory. He also fouls only 12 times, while Shapovalov did nothing to help his cause with 29 unforced errors.
Since his participation in the third round of the Australian Open, the 23-year-old athlete has also lost to Wu Yibing, Michael Mmoh and Taylor Fritz. He has only won one match during this streak: a three-set victory over Miomir Kecmanovic in Acapulco.
Shapovalov will not pack his bags on Friday, however. He reached the knockout stages of the doubles table, along with Félix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadians will face Lucas Miedler and Cameron Norrie on Sunday.
-In addition, at the end of the afternoon, Ontario’s Bianca Andreescu and Yulina Putintseva were eliminated in the women’s doubles tournament. They lost 7-6 (3) and 6-4 to Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez.
