January 30, 2024, 12:10 PM
After a slow start in his return from injury, Canada’s Dennis Shapovalov is back in the winner’s circle.
The native of Richmond Hill, Ont. beat France’s Hugo Gaston 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round of the Open Sud de France on Tuesday.
Shapovalov missed the second half of last season with a knee injury. He lost his first two matches of 2024 in New Zealand and at the Australian Open.
After reaching a career high of No. 10 in the world in 2010, Shapovalov’s ranking has slipped to No. 137. Gaston is ranked 88th.
Shapovalov will next face No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan in the round of 16. The top four seeds, including No. 3 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, got first-round byes at the ATP Tour 250 indoor, hard-court event.