What a comeback at the IGA Stadium in Montreal: Shintaro Mochizuki dropped the opening set of the qualifying final against Dane Sweeny 1-6, only to turn the match on its head and ultimately prevail 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. The 23-year-old secured his spot in the main draw of one of the most prestigious ATP Masters 1000 events of the season — and did so just weeks before the US Open.
Sweeny dominates the opening set
The first set was a statement of intent from the Australian. Dane Sweeny, who grew up on the Sunshine Coast and is coached by his father Clay Sweeny, dictated play from the baseline with authority. He held serve comfortably, converted his break points clinically, and gave Mochizuki virtually no room to breathe. The 6-1 scoreline left no room for interpretation.
The statistics underlined Sweeny's strong start: with a first-serve percentage of 53 percent and 70 percent of points won on that first serve, he controlled the match with his service game for long stretches. Mochizuki, meanwhile, struggled to find any rhythm on the hard court — a surface on which he had won little more than a third of his matches heading into 2026.
The tiebreak as the turning point
The second set told a very different story. Mochizuki raised his level on return, fought off break points with conviction, and forced a tiebreak. There, he showed nerves of steel — taking it 7-5 to level the match at one set apiece. Sweeny, for his part, was hampered by six double faults across the match, which undermined his ability to build any consistency on serve.
That setback appeared to weigh on the Australian. Mochizuki, who just weeks earlier had reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon 2026 as a qualifier — becoming only the fourth Japanese man in the Open Era to achieve that feat at a Grand Slam — drew clear confidence from that achievement.
Mochizuki takes control in the deciding set
In the third set, Mochizuki took command. He converted his break points while Sweeny failed to take his own. The 6-3 scoreline was a fair reflection of the play. The final statistics showed an even split in points won — both players finishing at 50 percent — but Mochizuki proved sharper and more composed when it mattered most.
For Dane Sweeny, who had made headlines earlier in 2026 by winning the ATP Challenger event Queensland International and claiming his first Grand Slam victory at the 2026 Australian Open, this defeat is a bitter blow on the road to the main draw. Mochizuki, however, now steps into the Canadian Open main draw with his chest out — and every right to feel good about what comes next.
