Denis Shapovalov of Canada secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open tennis tournament after defeating local favorite Leo Borg with a score of 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 on Wednesday. Shapovalov, seeded third in the tournament, demonstrated a strong performance with six aces and an 83% first serve points won against Borg, the 22-year-old son of Swedish tennis legend Bjorn Borg.
Borg, who received a wild-card entry into the ATP 250 event in Stockholm, struggled on his serve, facing 18 break points during the match but managing to defend 11 of them. Despite Borg’s brief momentum in the second set, Shapovalov swiftly took control in the third set, claiming victory by winning five consecutive games after a solid start from both players.
Next, Shapovalov, ranked 23rd globally and hailing from Richmond Hill, Ont., will face either Jacob Fearnley of Britain or Elias Ymer, another Swedish wild card.
Meanwhile, Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo exited the Almaty Open tennis tournament after a hard-fought match against Australian qualifier James Duckworth, ending in a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (3), 6-4 defeat on Wednesday in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Despite Diallo’s impressive 22 aces and strong first-serve performance, Duckworth managed to secure the win without facing a break point in the over two-and-a-half-hour match.
Duckworth is set to challenge third seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy in the upcoming quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament. This match marks the first main-draw meeting between the two players, with Diallo having previously defeated Duckworth during qualifying at the 2022 National Bank Open in Montreal.
Diallo, currently ranked 35th in the world, saw his season record drop to 28-22 following this defeat. In a separate event, fourth seed Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Que., will compete against Hungary’s Dalma Galfi in the second round of the Japan Women’s Open in Osaka.
