ATP Tour

Former champion Paul off to a flyer, Shapovalov shows heart at Queen's Club

Tommy Paul maintained his love affair with the HSBC Championships on Monday, when he blitzed past American lucky loser Zachary Svajda 7-5, 6-3 to reach the second round in London.

The 29-year-old lifted the trophy at The Queen’s Club in 2024 before he missed the event last year. Back at the ATP 500 this week, Paul played well in the big moments in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with his countryman Svajda.

"I love playing on this court and it is nice to be back," Paul said in his on-court interview. "I obviously have great memories here and it is such a beautiful club and it is nice to be back."

The eighth seed fired 15 aces and saved all five break points he faced to triumph after 86 minutes in his first grass-court match of the year. Paul, chasing his second trophy of the season after winning Houston, will next play Botic van de Zandschulp.

Van de Zandschulp defeated British qualifier Harry Wendelken 6-4, 7-6(5) to record his first grass-court win of the year. The Dutchman was a semi-finalist in west London in 2022 and rallied from 2/5 in the second-set tie-break to advance.

Wendelken defeated Adam Walton and Aleksandar Vukic in qualifying and was the first Brit to qualify for the tournament since Paul Jubb in 2022. The 24-year-old, coached by Hamid Hejazi, founder of Over & In, was making his tour-level debut. Last year, the No. 203 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won his maiden ATP Challenger title in Greece.

In other action, Denis Shapovalov battled back from the brink to claw past British wild card Jack Pinnington Jones 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3). The Canadian was two points from defeat in the closing stages of the third set, but rallied from 0/30 down on the Pinnington Jones serve at 5-6 to force a tie-break.

The 27-year-old then produced a moment of magic in the tie-break, hitting what could well be the shot of the week at 5/3 when he flew to his right to hit a volley winner when flying through the west London sky. The moment led to gasps from the packed crowd on the Andy Murray Arena.

Watch Shapovalov's stunning flying volley

With his win, Shapovalov snapped a five-match losing streak, while he earned his first victory at the Queen's Club since 2021. The World No. 41 will next face top seed Alex de Minaur or Gabriel Diallo.