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Denis Shapovalov on the verge of second ATP title of the year, reaches Los Cabos Open final
Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Through the night in Mexico, Denis Shapovalov reached the final of the Los Cabos Open. He saw off Adam Walton 6-2, 6-2 on Friday.

He saved four break points while converting all four of his break point opportunities in a one hour six minute rout over the Australian, the tournament's eighth seed. He won the Dallas Open in February and has three career titles.

He now sits on the verge of a fourth as the former World No.10 tries to continue a resurgence of sorts after slipping down the rankings previously.

“It definitely helps my confidence, it helps my belief a little bit,” Shapovalov told reporters after the match. “I came into the tournament not trying to focus on results too much, just trying to focus on getting back to my game offensively, trying to go for it. It’s paying off.”

He was set to face the winner of Andrey Rublev v Aleksandar Kovacevic. That ended up being Kovacevic who dumped out the top seed and favourite for the title in Rublev.

The American saw off the top seed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 at the Cabo del Mar Sports Center marking the second time this season that Kovacevic has beaten Rublev having previously seen him off in the semi-finals of Montpellier.

Back then he claimed a 7-5, 6-4 win over Rublev. This time it was a bit more difficult but he managed to get over the line. He now has equaled the biggest win of his career in terms of rank and has reached his second ATP Tour final. He becomes the fourth American to reach the final in Los Cabos.

This comes after Sam Querrey, Taylor Fritz and Brandon Nakashima all also achieved this feat. He will now faces Shapovalov and it is the first time since April 2025 that Kovacevic has won two main draw matches in a row.

Back then it was Houston. Shapovalov on the otherhand is into his ninth ATP tour final. It his third outdoors and he joins Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jack Draper and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina as the only players to reach multiple hard court finals this season before the US summer.

While most tournaments are played on clay this week, Los Cabos is slightly different and is played on the hard courts which are then used in the coming weeks for the US Open.

Who seals the title? That will be decided through the night on Saturday and the winner will be crowned going into Sunday morning European time.

Match Statistics Shapovalov vs. Walton

Shapovalov VS Walton
Service
7 Aces 3
4 Double Faults 2
56% (29/52) 1st Service Percentage 46% (17/37)
76% (22/29) 1st Service Points Won 65% (11/17)
61% (14/23) 2nd Service Points Won 45% (9/20)
100% (4/4) Break Points Saved 0% (0/4)
100% (8/8) Service Games 50% (4/8)
Return
35% (6/17) 1st Return Points Won 24% (7/29)
55% (11/20) 2nd Return Points Won 39% (9/23)
- Break Points Saved -
Other
1h 07m Match Duration 1h 07m

This article first appeared on TennisUpToDate.com and was syndicated with permission.

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