Canadian Denis Shapovalov makes early exit at Cologne Championship

COLOGNE, Germany — Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is out of the Cologne Championship after dropping his opening match.

The third-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 to France’s Gilles Simon in a second-round match on Thursday at the ATP Tour 250 hard-court event.

Shapovalov, who received a first-round bye, struggled with his serve against the world No. 58. He won 60 per cent of points when he got his first serve in (14 per cent below Simon) and just 38 per cent of points on second serve.

Shapovalov, ranked 12th in the world, was coming off a run to the semifinals at a tournament in St. Petersburg, Russia last week.

Simon will next face Jannik Sinner after the Italian beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3, 6-1.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime will play Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in the quarterfinals at the Cologne Championship on Friday.

Also Thursday, Diego Schwartzman returned to action after his run to the French Open semifinals by beating Oscar Otte 6-3, 6-2.

The ninth-ranked Schwartzman was playing his first match since breaking into the top following his loss to Rafael Nadal in the French Open semifinals. He will face Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarterfinals.

— With files from The Associated Press.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2020.

The Canadian Press