By Canadian Press

Canadian Denis Shapovalov knocks off Guido Pella in first-round match

Sep 15, 2020 | 9:02 AM

ROME — Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is heading to the second round of the Italian Open.

The No. 12 seed from Richmond Hill, Ont., beat world No. 37 Guido Pella of Argentina 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday at the ATP Masters 1000 clay-court event.

Shapovalov won 85 per cent of points when he got his first serve in (22 of 26), well above Pella’s 62 per-cent clip (22 of 40).

Shapovalov will face world No. 109 Pedro Martinez, a qualifier from Spain, in the second round.

The 21-year-old Shapovalov is coming off a run to the round of 16 at the U.S. Open.

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No. 13 seed Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., was scheduled to face France’s Adrian Mannarino in a first-round match later Tuesday.

No. 16 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal lost his first-round match to Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic on Monday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2020.

The Canadian Press