US Open qualifying: Shapovalov, Zvonareva win

No.2 seed Denis Shapovalov is through to the second round of US Open qualifying after a straight-sets win over American Denis Kudla.

The 6-3 6-4 win sets up a second-round meeting with Gastao Elias of Portugal.

It may be a surprise to see the 69th-ranked Canadian even in the qualifying draw; it’s explained by the fact that Shapovalov did not have a ranking high enough to enter the main draw when the cut-off was made six weeks before the start of the tournament.

> US Open men’s qualifying draw

Unreal support today at @usopen. Thanks so much to everyone who came to watch? #DontStopFighting

— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) August 22, 2017

His ascent into the world’s top 70 came after his thrilling run to the semifinals of the Montreal Masters, a week which included a stunning defeat of Rafael Nadal.

Many thought that performance by one of the game’s most promising youngsters would be cause for a wildcard – yet the 18-year-old was not awarded one.

Instead, he has to slug is way through three rounds of qualifying if he is to make the main event.

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Also advancing in the men’s draw was top seed and Hamburg champion Leonardo Mayer, No.4 seed Sergiy Stakovsky, 11th seed and Next Gen star Casper Ruud, and Shapovalov’s teenaged countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime, who will next face Stakhovsky.

On the women’s side, former world No.2 Vera Zvonereva – perhaps a surprise entrant into the field – won her opening match against 17th seed Han Xinyun.

Zvonareva, a US Open finalist in 2010, won 7-6(4) 6-1 and will next clash with American Jamie Loeb.

Zvonareva accepted a wildcard into New Haven qualifying and won her first-round match over Anastasia Rodionova before retiring midway through her next match against Magdalena Rybarikova with a left leg injury.

The Russian is playing a limited schedule as she adjusts to life as a mother after two years of competitive inactivity from April 2015 to April 2017.

> US Open women’s qualifying draw

“It’s great to be back, practicing on main courts and getting ready for a tournament,” she told WTA Insider. “We’ll see how it goes, because I don’t have too many other plans beyond US Open qualifying. From there, I’ll head back home to see my little one, and we’ll see what happens after.”

She’s played a handful of ITF tournaments in the past four months, winning a $15,000 event in Egypt.

She is currently ranked No.742.

Other women reaching the second round of qualifying in New York were No.1 seed Su-Wei Hsieh, sixth seed Kateryna Bondarenko, former world No.15 Kaia Kanepi and wildcard Victoria Duval.