Things got briefly tense between Denis Shapovalov and Adrian Mannarino at the Cincinnati Open, as neither player backed off an aggressive tactic at the net once the match tightened up. Shapovalov ran away with the first set 6-1, dominant and mostly incident-free. It was the second set where the real competitive edge showed up.
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Mannarino found his footing first, building a 4-1 lead as Shapovalov struggled to find rhythm on serve. Then, with Shapovalov coming to net and trying to draw a passing shot, Mannarino instead went with a full-blooded forehand straight at him rather than the open court, a legitimate tactic, but one that clearly didn’t sit well with the Canadian in the moment.
Shapovalov got his answer two games later. With Mannarino serving at 3-1 and coming to net himself, Shapovalov smashed a forehand directly at him instead of going for the opening. Mannarino didn’t say much back, responding with a smile and holding serve to lead 4-1.
That would be the last game Mannarino won. Shapovalov reeled off the next several games to level the set at 4-4, then closed it out 6-4 to complete the win in straight sets.
This kind of edge isn’t out of character for Shapovalov. While he’s rarely been involved in a direct physical exchange like this one, he’s built a reputation over the years for on-court outbursts and clashes with chair umpires, including past defaults tied to those flare-ups. Thursday’s version stayed contained to the tactics themselves rather than boiling over into anything with an official.
That win sets up a first-round opponent with his own recent history of controversy, even as his results keep climbing.
Denis Shapovalov to Face Rafael Jodar in Cincinnati
Shapovalov’s next match comes against Rafael Jodar, a player who’s drawn plenty of attention this season both for what he’s doing on court and how he’s carried himself doing it. Fans have criticized the Spaniard’s conduct toward a ball girl at Wimbledon, and he’s faced separate backlash for changing his shoelaces mid-match in both Washington and Montreal, seen by many as a gamesmanship tactic to disrupt his opponents’ rhythm.
None of that has slowed his results. Jodar reached the final at the Citi Open in Washington and the semifinal in Montreal, building on an already strong season that included a title in Marrakech and quarterfinal runs at Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros. He currently sits at No. 11 in the live rankings, on the doorstep of cracking the top 10.
Shapovalov, by contrast, has had a season of flashes rather than sustained form, a semifinal in Dallas and a runner-up finish in Los Cabos among the highlights, but a 14-16 overall record and nine first-round exits tell the fuller story. He does hold the head-to-head edge over Jodar, having beaten him 6-1, 6-2 in Dallas earlier this year.
Jodar’s deep runs in back-to-back weeks may work in Shapovalov’s favor here, giving the Canadian a fresher opponent to attack if fatigue starts to show. Whether that opening is enough will come down to Shapovalov cutting down his own unforced errors, the same issue that’s defined his up-and-down season, when the two meet in the next round.