It was one of the most remarkable stories of qualifying Saturday in Montreal: Kyrian Jacquet, the 25-year-old Frenchman from Lyon, defeated Alexander Shevchenko in three sets, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, to earn a place in the main draw of the ATP Masters 1000 event at the National Bank Open. What makes the win so extraordinary is the backdrop: heading into this match, Jacquet had never won a single set against the Kazakhstani — across three previous meetings, he had been held scoreless in that regard.
Shevchenko Controls the Opener
Alexander Shevchenko set the early tone. The Kazakhstani, ranked 89th in the world with a career-high of 45, moved through the opening set with composure and converted his break points efficiently. With a first-serve percentage of 52 and 71 percent of points won behind it, he kept Jacquet at arm's length. The 6-4 set win for Shevchenko seemed to be continuing the familiar narrative: the Frenchman with no answer for the more experienced opponent.
But Jacquet refused to be discouraged. As a hard-court specialist — he wins roughly two-thirds of his matches on the surface — he knew his best weapons had yet to fire. He struck four aces across the match, and his return game grew sharper as the contest wore on: he won 54 percent of points on Shevchenko's second serve.
Jacquet Flips the Script — and Makes History
The balance of power shifted in the second set. Shevchenko saved break points at a rate of just 43 percent, while Jacquet converted 57 percent of his own. The Frenchman took the second set 6-4 to force a deciding third — the first time in the entire head-to-head record against Shevchenko that he had managed to do so.
In the third set, Jacquet delivered a commanding performance. He dictated the tempo, pushed Shevchenko into increasingly prolonged baseline exchanges, and refused to be derailed even by six double faults across the match as a whole. A 6-3 scoreline sealed his place in the qualifying final. The overall statistics reflect just how tight the contest was: Jacquet won 51 percent of all points — a reminder of how fine the margins were between the two men.
Context and What Comes Next
For Jacquet, who had reached a career-high of ATP No. 102 as recently as February 2026 following his fifth Challenger title in Manama, reaching the main draw of a Masters 1000 event is further proof of his upward trajectory. He had also recently made his Grand Slam main-draw debut as a qualifier at Wimbledon 2026 — a sign that his work with coach Stéphane Robert is bearing fruit. Now Montreal awaits, one of the most prestigious hard-court tournaments on the calendar ahead of the US Open, with a prize fund of around $9.2 million. Shevchenko, meanwhile, who had arrived with a break-even season record, must chalk qualifying up as another setback.
