#NextGenATP Shapovalov Ends Fognini's Bid For London

Denis Shapovalov ended any hopes that Fabio Fognini had of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday with victory at the Rolex Paris Masters.

In the intimate surroundings of Court 1, Shapovalov hit his spots on serve to overcome Fognini 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 42 minutes for a place in the third round against sixth seed Alexander Zverev of Germany.

Fognini, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters champion (d. Lajovic) in April, started day three in Paris in 12th position in the 2019 ATP Race To London on 2,280 points — 380 points behind eighth-placed Italian Matteo Berrettini (2,660) for a spot at next month’s season finale. The Italian ends the regular 2019 ATP Tour season with a 29-23 match record.

From 5-3 in the second set, Shapovalov won the next three games to stamp his authority on the pair’s second FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting (2018 ATP Masters 1000 Toronto). Fognini mis-timed a backhand to hand Shapovalov the advantage at the start of the deciding set, and later at 3-1, when a LED panel on the advertising board behind the baseline malfunctioned due to a first serve from the #NextGenATP Canadian, the two-minute delay didn’t distract him from closing out to 15.

The 20-year-old Shapovalov, who lifted his first ATP Tour title at the Intrum Stockholm Open (d. Fognini) two weeks ago, is now 33-25 on the season. He will compete the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan, for players aged 21-and-under, from 5-9 November.

Elsewhere, Cristian Garin knocked out No. 15 seed John Isner of the United States 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in one hour and 33 minutes. Isner hit 25 aces and won 34 of 38 first-service points,

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