Match Report
Shapovalov ‘needed to come out on fireplace’ to beat Tsitsipas in battle of former Top-10 stars
Shapovalov takes a 5-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head collection lead towards Tsitsipas
March 05, 2026
ATP Tour
Denis Shapovalov celebrates throughout his three-set victory towards Stefanos Tsitsipas Wednesday night in Indian Wells.
By ATP Staff
Denis Shapovalov’s response mentioned all of it Wednesday night in Indian Wells. The Canadian was thrilled after battling previous Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to win a conflict of former Top-10 stars and attain the second spherical of the BNP Paribas Open.
“Definitely never easy to draw a guy like Stefanos first round. I think for both of us it was a very tough matchup” Shapovalov mentioned in his post-match interview. “I knew I had to come out and play my ‘A game’ and come out on fire. It’s never easy to do that in the first rounds, but luckily I was able to do that today. Definitely very happy with the win.”
The lefty walked on court docket in primetime with a 4-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head collection lead towards the previous No. 3 participant within the PIF ATP Rankings, who was unseeded at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the primary time since 2018 in Cincinnati. Shapovalov powered to a 6-2 lead and broke Tsitsipas’ serve instantly within the second set.
The Greek confirmed why he’s a three-time Masters 1000 champion, clawing again to drive a deciding set. But with the momentum switching, Shapovalov was in a position to reclaim management of factors and earn a second-round assembly with twenty ninth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
“It’s tough. First round, you get the first-round jitters a little bit and up a set and a break there got ahead of myself a little bit, started thinking of the outcomes of the points a little bit too much and tried to play it a bit too safe,” Shapovalov said. “Played a loose game and you know a guy like that is going to come back and elevate his game, play some great tennis. Definitely very happy I was able to close that out.”
