Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is heading to the second round of the Madrid Open after beating Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-1, 6-3 on Sunday.
The 11th-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., saved all three break points he faced against the world No. 37 at the ATP Masters 1000 clay-court event.
Shapovalov, ranked 14th in the world, has had trouble stringing together wins this year. His win-loss record is 9-7 in 2021.
The Canadian will play world No. 43 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the second round. Bublik won their only previous meeting on an indoor hard-court in Marseille, France, last year.
No. 15 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal is the only other Canadian in the men’s singles draw. He will face Norway’s Casper Ruud in a first-round match on Monday or Tuesday.