Denis Shapovalov, 22, has reached his first semi-final in a Grand Slam tournament at Wimbledon, where he will face Novak Djokovic on Friday with the hopes of becoming the first Canadian man to reach the final there since 2016.
On grass courts, which reward assertive play more than any other surface, Shapovalov has been winning the races in rally after rally, round after round.
He has hit 214 winners, the most of the four semi-finalists, despite having played one fewer match than the other three.
In his first-round win, he hit 58 winners to Philipp Kohlschreiber’s 30. After receiving a second-round walkover from Pablo Andujar, he blasted a two-time Wimbledon champion, Andy Murray, off the court in the third round, ripping 45 winners to Murray’s 16. In his fourth-round win, Shapovalov hit 52 winners to Roberto Bautista Agut’s 14.
Shapovalov has also hit the most unforced errors of the remaining men at Wimbledon, with 170.
When he was 18, Shapovalov made a stunning arrival to the tour by beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal at the 2017 Montreal Masters, electrifying a night-session crowd that included NHL legend Wayne Gretzky in the front row. But in the intervening years, the results haven’t always materialized for Shapovalov and his free-swinging arm, and he has been forced to work on reining in his power.
Shapovalov’s cautious play did not serve him well in the quarter-finals Wednesday against Karen Khachanov: He lost the second and third sets.
Shapovalov prevailed 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4, hitting 59 winners to Khachanov’s 31.
To advance one round further, Shapovalov will need to penetrate the robust defences of Djokovic. Shapovalov is 0-6 against him, but the two have never played on grass.