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Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov admitted he made a lot of bad choices during his Rotterdam opener and indicated the surface in Rotterdam doesn't suit him well. Shapovalov, ranked at No. 12 in the world, was among top favorites to win this year's Rotterdam title.
Shapovalov's campaign in Rotterdam didn't last long as on Tuesday he suffered a shock loss against qualifier Jiri Lehecka. Lehecka, ranked at No. 137 in the world, handed a 6-4 6-4 loss to No. 5 seed Shapovalov. Shapovalov made the Rotterdam quarterfinal in 2019 but his last two appearances at the tournament ended with a first round loss.
“I felt like I made a lot of bad choices. I struggled here the last few times I played. I'm not sure it's a good surface for me, I didn't feel comfortable at all, I felt like I had to guess every shot and every bounce," Shapovalov said after the loss, per We Love Tennis.
Shapovalov didn't play his best
Lehecka made a good start to the match as he claimed the first break of the match in the fifth game to open a 2-1 lead. Shapovalov had four break points in the sixth game but he blew those break point chances as Lehecka took a 4-2 lead.
Lehecka served out for the opener in the 10th game. Shapovalov recovered from an early second set break but lost his serve once again in the fifth game as Lehecka served out for the match in the 10th game. “Of course I’m excited.
It was a good match today from my side. Very happy with my performance,” Lehecka told the ATP Tour website. “I knew that it would be a tough match of course, he’s No. 12 in the world. It is not easy against these type of players”. In January, Shapovalov lifted the ATP Cup title with Canada and made the Australian Open quarterfinal.