At Arthur Ashe Stadium, centre court of the U.S. Open, the kid from Richmond Hill took out eighth seed Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, and a 7-3 tiebreak.

This from a Richmond Hill lefty in his first full year on the tour circuit as a senior who had to elbow his way into the main draw for the Grand Slam by negotiating the qualifier on-ramp; three matches in the bag before merging onto the Queens majors highway.

Togged up in all-black, ball cap turned backwards on his head, wisps of blond hair sticking out, Shapovalov showed tremendous maturity and poise against Tsonga.

He broke him at love in Game 1 of the first set, waiting out a video review on match point in the tiebreaker — the Frenchman’s return was out — and then threw up his arms in triumph as a packed house, clearly on the upstart’s side, rose to its feet in raucous applause.

Shapovalov’s emerging panache with a racquet — which really is quite sudden, though he did win the Wimbledon junior title last year — was most evident in deft hooks, audacious backhand volleys, billiards-like placement of balls, darts down the line, cunning angles and leaping forehands, all limbs splayed, with extraordinary torque and spin.