Shapovalov to repeat?

The Canadian is dominating his matches in Los Cabos...

Well, four matches last year to the title with an average of 4.5 games lost per match... that's pretty good, I would say. This year, he managed to drop the opening set in his match against Hijikata; it was some bad double faults and crazy misses, but after he got used to the conditions, he was rather dominant in the second and third sets. He followed this up with another quick win against Pacheco Mendez and now finds himself in the quarterfinals. Svrcina had a massive battle against Walton in the first round and then benefited from a very early retirement just a few games in against Darderi in his second match.

While we tend to associate the Canadian as someone good on fast, usually indoors, courts... these slower kinds of conditions has its advantages for him as well. He gets a lot of time on the ball, which allows him to really aim his massive strikes, usually leading to shorter balls back from his weaker opponents. Combine that with a first serve advantage and the ability to play well at the net, and you can see why he is dangerous here. However, I want to point out that he has been a rather large favorite in all six matches he has played here so far (the field tends to be quite weak). If he were to face better opponents, the slower conditions could start to hurt a lot more, as rallies extend... The conditions are tricky, so if it turns into a battle, I trust him less here. Well, that will not really be the case in this match. On paper, Svrcina looks like a difficult opponent for Shapovalov, since he is a mobile counter-puncher that could frustrate the Canadian, especially on a slow court - right? Well, perhaps, but the slow court speed can also work against Svrcina since his serve becomes even more vulnerable as well...