Denis Shapovalov became the first Canadian man to get in the US Open quarters in the “open era” after beating David Goffin in 4 sets.
Even if he is just 21, Denis has been hitting the headlines for the last few years for his fantastic tennis and great results. However, the Canadian ace was in desperate need of finding consistency with his tennis, which is something tricky to achieve when you are so aggressive on court.
Shapovalov and his girlfriend Mirjam Bjorklund
Denis has been dating fellow tennis player Mirjam Bjorklund for less than 1 year, but their relationship is already quite strong. After beating Goffin, Shapovalov credited his girlfriend for his new mentality to say:
“As soon as we started dating, it’s kind of a reason for someone to want to man up. I feel like she’s definitely inspired me to become a better person, a better tennis player.”
Denis and his parents
Of course, Denis also acknowledged the great effort of his parents that have helped him since the very beginning of his career:
“But I didn’t mean to take anything away from my parents or my team. I feel like everybody’s inspiring me. They’re staying up at night watching my matches. Everybody is supporting me. Throughout the start of my life, my parents have always been there for me. I think it’s everybody.”
The help of a psychologist and his new coach Youzhny
Denis also admitted that a psychologist is also helping him a lot on and off the court. It’s easy to forget that Denis is just 21 and he has to cope with a huge amount of pressure continuously.
Denis commented:
“He’s been helping me with not just tennis stuff, but life stuff, too. Definitely helped me so much in these matches I was definitely doing the exercises we work on to calm down, regroup [after he lost the opening set]. Surely enough, it helped me once again today.”
Finally, Denis talked about the huge help that his coach and former world No.8 Mikhail Youzhny has been giving him. Shapovalov admitted that before their partnership, he was a bit too exuberant on court, but the Russian champion helped him to understand the dynamics of the game better. Denis commented:
“I feel like Mischa has helped me a lot with that, just not going out there and trying to blast balls left and right, but actually playing smarter and playing more crafty. He’s such a crafty player. I’m thankful he’s been able to teach me some of that, help me implement that in my game.”
Shapovalov at the U.S. Open, ranking, and results in 2020
Now ranked no.17, the Canadian has a 9-8 win-loss record in 2020. The Canadian is now playing at the U.S. Open where he beat Sebastian Korda 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-2, Soon-Woo Kwon 6-75 6-4 6-4 6-2, Taylor Harry Fritz 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-65 6-2 and David Goffin 6-70 6-3 6-4 6-3.
Denis Shapovalov will compete against Carreno-Busta in the quarter. The head to head is 3-1 for Carreno-Busta.