The second round action at the 2020 St. Petersburg Open will see Denis Shapovalov of Canada, the second seed and world 12, take on the Belarussian qualifier, Ilya Ivashka, currently ranked 141. This match will be played on Thursday, October 15 and after 1 pm local time (11 am BST). Get the live streaming options of this Denis Shapovalov v Ilya Ivashka match along with its preview, head to head, and tips here.
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Denis Shapovalov v Ilya Ivashka Head to Head
The pair have met once before in the last 16 of the Shenzhen Open in 2018. Shapovalov won that match in three sets.
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Shapovalov Eases Past Lucky Loser
Shapovalov was given a relatively easy draw in the first round when he faced lucky loser Viktor Troicki of Serbia, a man that Ivashka had already beaten in the qualifying competition.
And the Canadian got the job done with a minimum of fuss, breaking the Troicki serve twice in the first set to wrap that up in just over half an hour. The second set followed almost an identical pattern, with Shapovalov breaking Troicki twice to complete the victory in a little over an hour.
Shapovalov dominated on serve throughout, serving twice as many aces, and winning 86% of points on first serve compared to 58%. He did not face a single break point against him, but converted all four of the break opportunities that he forced.
The Canadian is coming off a quarterfinal at the US Open and semifinal appearance in Rome, which is indicative of his form across two contrasting surfaces. Can he now push on, on indoor hard court too?
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Belarusian Ivashka Inspired by Courtside Row
Ivashka enjoyed one of the biggest victories of his career when he beat Adrian Mannarino, the world number 39, from France in the first round.
However, his victory was overshadowed by the furious row that he became embroiled in when taking a comfort break when trailing 3-2 in the second set. At that stage he had taken the first set after engineering the solitary break of serve in the sixth game of that set.
Whilst Ivashka was off court, the match officials decided to hit him with a code violation for taking too long, especially as he had already taken a similar break during the warm-up.
When informed of the punishment, Ivashka was furious and wanted to know if the officials expected him to go to the toilet on the court itself.
However, he managed to channel his inner fury to good effect. He managed to break back straight away and took the second set to a tie-break, which he eventually clinched with his second match point, winning 6-3, 7-6.
That win followed two qualifying round victories, also in straight sets, including one against Troicki.
Shapovalov v Ivashka Prediction and Tip
This should be a relatively straightforward task for Shapovalov against a qualifier ranked nearly 130 places below him in the world. He will be hoping to wrap up victory without exerting himself too much.
Tip: Shapovalov to win in straight sets: 8/15 (bet365)
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The St. Petersburg Open 2020 will be played from October 12 to 18. You can watch & bet on the St. Petersburg Open here. Get your latest premium tennis predictions here.
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