Match Report
Shapovalov ‘had to come out on fire’ to beat Tsitsipas in battle of former Top-10 stars
Shapovalov takes a 5-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against Tsitsipas
March 05, 2026
ATP Tour
Denis Shapovalov celebrates during his three-set victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas Wednesday evening in Indian Wells.
By ATP Staff
Denis Shapovalov’s reaction said it all Wednesday evening in Indian Wells. The Canadian was thrilled after battling past Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 to win a clash of former Top-10 stars and reach the second round of the BNP Paribas Open.
“Definitely never easy to draw a guy like Stefanos first round. I think for both of us it was a very tough matchup” Shapovalov said in his post-match interview. “I knew I had to come out and play my ‘A game’ and come out on fire. It’s never easy to do that in the first rounds, but luckily I was able to do that today. Definitely very happy with the win.”
The lefty walked on court in primetime with a 4-2 Lexus ATP Head2Head series lead against the former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, who was unseeded at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament for the first time since 2018 in Cincinnati. Shapovalov powered to a 6-2 lead and broke Tsitsipas’ serve immediately in the second set.
The Greek showed why he is a three-time Masters 1000 champion, clawing back to force a deciding set. But with the momentum switching, Shapovalov was able to reclaim control of points and earn a second-round meeting with 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
“It’s tough. First round, you get the first-round jitters a little bit and up a set and a break there got ahead of myself a little bit, started thinking of the outcomes of the points a little bit too much and tried to play it a bit too safe,” Shapovalov said. “Played a loose game and you know a guy like that is going to come back and elevate his game, play some great tennis. Definitely very happy I was able to close that out.”