Denis Shapovalov scores 200th win of career with victory over Sonego in Shanghai

Denis Shapovalov made a winning start to his Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign on Wednesday, defeating Lorenzo Sonego in the first round of the Masters 1000 event, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8).

And it was a special win: the 200th tour-level win of his career.

He joined two very exclusive lists with the victory, starting with becoming just the fifth man born in 1999 or later to hit 200 wins.

MEN BORN IN 1999 OR LATER WITH 200+ CAREER WINS (tour-level):
249: Jannik Sinner [born in 2001] (playing Beijing final today)
242: Alex de Minaur [born in 1999]
213: Felix Auger-Aliassime [born in 2000]
202: Carlos Alcaraz [born in 2003] (playing Beijing final today)
200: Denis Shapovalov [born in 1999]

He's also just the third Canadian man to hit 200 in the Open Era.

CANADIAN MEN WITH 200+ CAREER WINS (tour-level, Open Era):
383: Milos Raonic
213: Felix Auger-Aliassime
200: Denis Shapovalov

Vasek Pospisil is the only other Canadian man to even reach 100 in the Open Era, currently with 136 career wins.

Shapovalov was sidelined for the second half of last year due to a knee injury.

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A former world No. 10, Shapovalov dropped out of the Top 100 last year after missing the entire second half of the season with a knee injury. He dipped as low as No. 140 earlier this year but has been gathering steam again over the last few months, highlighted by back-to-back third-round showings at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and reaching the quarterfinals of the ATP 500 event in Washington D.C., and a few weeks ago he broke back into the Top 100 for the first time this year, at No. 100.

He’s slightly down at No. 101 this week, but with absolutely no ranking points to defend the rest of the season, he has a great opportunity of finishing the year well inside the Top 100.

Awaiting him in the second round in Shanghai will be the No. 14 seed, Ben Shelton, who received a first-round bye.