In a surprising turn of events, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov faced a challenging defeat against Slovak qualifier Alex Molcan, falling 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the prestigious BMW Open tennis tournament on Friday.
Molcan made a crucial break to gain a 4-3 lead in the second set, capitalizing on a game where Shapovalov recorded two of his seven double faults. From that moment on, Molcan dominated his serve, not dropping a single point.
Shapovalov had momentarily leveled the second set at 3-3 after securing a break, but faltered again as his serving game let him down.
This match marked just their second encounter, with Shapovalov winning their initial clash in 2022 at the Qatar Open. Molcan now boasts an impressive 11-2 record on clay this season and is set to challenge the second seed, Ben Shelton from the United States, in the next round.
Shapovalov, hailing from Richmond Hill, Ontario, entered the ATP 500 tournament ranked 39th globally, holding a season record of 8-8.
