The Baseline Player of the Week: Denis Shapovalov

Every week, Baseline will select a “Player of the Week.” That player will not always win the highest-level tournament that week, but he/she will perform the best compared to their recent playing history.

Denis Shapovalov was a point away from losing to world No. 64 Rogerio Dutra Silva on Tuesday at the Rogers Cup. In fact, the 18-year-old Canadian faced match point on four separate occasions in a second-set tiebreaker, twice on the Brazilian’s serve. The world No. 66 was that close to a disappointing showing in his home country’s event.

Thankfully for the Montreal crowd and the tournament as a whole, the up-and-comer had no intentions of losing anytime soon.

Instead, Shapovalov went on a historic run, beating Rio medalist Juan Martin del Potro and 15-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal en route to becoming the youngest-ever semifinalist at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event, and the lowest-ranked player to reach the semifinals at that level in nearly 14 years.

“I don’t think I realized it yet,” Shapovalov said after losing to fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev, 6-4, 7-5, in the semifinals. “My whole life has changed in the last five days.”

Shapovalov not only rocketed up the rankings—at No. 67, he became the youngest player in the Top 100—but his $220,760 reward was more than he had made in his 48 career professional tournaments in singles and doubles combined.

“I've had the week of my life,” Shapovalov said on court after his loss to Zverev. “Sascha is an unbelievable player. Actually, it's pretty nice to see how my game matches up against him, to see that I can compete with a great player like him."

The big-serving, forehand-whipping lefty gave not just Canadians a thrill, but also tennis fans throughout the world. At 18 years of age, this effort was likely just the first of many for the teenager. The former junior world No. 2 had won just three tour-level matches before stepping on the courts in Montreal this past week, 1,353 less than the four opponents (Dutra Silva, Del Potro, Nadal and Adrian Mannarino) who he beat, combined.

Shapovalov even earned the support of hockey great Wayne Gretzky, who attended his four wins and immediately called the youngster after his tough loss against Zverev.

“The great athletes want to be at center stage. They want to play out here and be under that microscope,” Gretzky said in an interview. "I think he has ice in his veins and I think he’s one of those guys who’s going to love the pressure.”

It takes ice-loaded veins to hit some of the shots that Shapovalov did during his dream run, many of which came under immense stress while surrounded by hungry fans and the weight of tremendous expectations.

Yet perhaps Shapovalov’s magical week could be summed up in one scene, when he dropped down to the court in stunned disbelief following a thrilling 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Nadal. His final forehand winner sent screaming fans jumping out of their seats with delight.

It was no surprise that it took Zverev three match points to eliminate Shapovalov on Saturday night. After all, if the Canadian didn’t battle to the end earlier in the week against Dutra Silva, would the tennis world be talking about him at all?

—WTA Western & Southern Open Live: Watch all Western & Southern Open action live from Cincinnati on Tennis Channel Plus.

—WTA Western & Southern Open Encore: Can’t make it to Cincinnati? Watch all the coverage On Demand, including match play from Venus Williams and Simona Halep.

—Tennis Channel Academy: Learn from the game’s best and watch Tennis Channel Academy on Tennis Channel Plus.

—Get Tennis Channel Plus for 650+ live events all year long.

—Tennis Channel Plus is available on any streaming device, on mobile, always on the GO (desktop, iOS, Android, Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire). Subscribe today at BuyTCPlus.com.