Shapovalov drops 3rd-round match at Miami Open to 3rd-seeded American Fritz

Denis Shapovalov was eliminated from the Miami Open tennis tournament after a 7-5, 6-3 loss to third-seeded American Taylor Fritz on Monday.

Fritz scored an early break in the second set to go up 2-0 and held serve the rest of the way. He opened the deciding game with his ninth ace of the match and served to love to wrap up the match in one hour 26 minutes.

Shapovalov had six double faults, including two in the deciding game of the first set which Fritz won on return without surrendering a point.

Shapovalov fought back from being down an early break and had tied the set 5-5 before giving up the crucial break.

Fritz also eliminated Shapovalov in the third round of the ATP Masters tournament in 2023.

Shapovalov, seeded 27th in Miami, had a bye in the first round and defeated Argentina's Thiago Tirante in three sets in the second round.

The 28-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., still leads Fritz 6-5 in career meetings. Last month, Shapovalov beat Fritz in the second round of the Dallas Open en route to winning the ATP 500 tournament.