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Shapovalov becomes 1st Canadian man to reach U.S. Open quarter-finals – CBC.ca

Published

4 years ago

September 6, 2020

Denis Shapovalov has become the first Canadian to reach the quarter-finals in men’s singles at the U.S. Open following a four-set victory over No. 7 seed David Goffin of Belgium on Sunday.

The 12th-seeded Shapovalov toppled Goffin: 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the fourth round of the Grand Slam tournament to advance.

He will face No. 20 seed Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in the quarters. The Spaniard got into the final eight when No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic was defaulted — the tennis equivalent of an ejection — from their fourth-round match after he accidentally hit a line judge with a tennis ball.

Shapovalov was broken only once and it came in the fourth set, while converting five break points against his opponent. He fired 13 aces and 52 winners.

WATCH | Denis Shapovalov becomes 1st Canadian man to reach U.S. Open quarters:

Denis Shapovalov became the 1st Canadian man to reach the quarter-finals at the US Open. 1:33

Shapovalov gave up the first set on a tiebreaker before taking the next three.

He broke Goffin for the first time on his sixth opportunity, with some help, as the Belgian double faulted to give the Canadian a 3-1 lead and a chance to even things in the second set.

The 21-year-old left-hander broke Goffin a second time in the opening game of the third set, then held serve to go up 2-0 and cruised from there for a 2-1 advantage.

Shapovalov converted his third break point to make it 2-1 in the fourth set, and Goffin couldn’t hold serve with the Canadian breaking him a fourth time to go up 4-1.

WATCH | Shapovalov steals point with running cross-court winner:

Denis Shapovalov stole a point from David Goffin with a great running cross-court winner following a long rally. 1:07

Goffin hung around and finally broke Shapovalov to make it 5-3 only for the native of Richmond Hill, Ont., to convert a break point on the next game to take the match.

Shapovalov, ranked No. 17 but seeded 12th at the Grand Slam tournament that’s missing some top stars, came into the match 0-1 against 29-year-old Goffin in his career. The previous loss came last year on a hardcourt ATP 500 event in Tokyo.

With reigning U.S. Open champion Rafael Nadal, who cited concerns about travelling amid the pandemic, and Roger Federer, sidelined after two knee operations, not in the field, the 33-year-old Djokovic from Serbia was expected to claim a fourth trophy in New York.

In 2017, Shapovalov was also defaulted from a Davis Cup match against Britain when he accidentally hit the chair umpire in the face with a ball.

“I’ve been through that myself. Honestly, I feel awful for him. I feel terrible for everybody. Nobody wants to be in this situation,” Shapovalov said. “Just a fluke. It’s accidents like this that happen. Same thing with me.”

Djokovic’s departure means there is no man left in the field who has won a Grand Slam singles title. Whoever emerges as champion will be the first first-time major trophy winner in men’s tennis since 2014, when Marin Cilic won the U.S. Open.

Plus, each of the last 13 Grand Slam trophies had been won by a member of the Big Three of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic.

“This is definitely not the way we wanted to have a new Grand Slam champion,” Shapovalov said, before noting: “It’s been getting pretty boring with these three guys winning every tournament.”

3 Canadians could potentially reach quarters

Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., is one of three Canadian men to play into the Round of 16, along with Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver.

That’s the most Canadian men to have advanced to the fourth round of the event in the same year. But no Canadian man had reached the quarter-finals in the history of the U.S. Open, going 0-12 in the round of 16 before Shapovalov on Sunday.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., won the women’s singles championship in New York a year ago.

Auger-Aliassime and Pospisil both play their respective fourth-round matches Monday.

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Sports

Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

16 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

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This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

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Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

16 hours ago

November 4, 2024

Anne Joseph

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

5 days ago

October 31, 2024

Anne Joseph

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

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