Emotional stuff in Indian Wells as Denis Shapovalov dedicates his 2nd round win to his former coach and mentor Bruno Agostinelli.
Who was Bruno Agostinelli?
Bruno played an important role in Denis’ tennis (and life). He was following the young Canadian very closely, and he was the one to help Shapovalov to craft his beautiful one-handed backhand.
Unfortunately, Bruno had a fatal accident in a motorcycle on the 9th of March 2016.
How Shapovalov paid tribute to Agostinelli
As soon as Denis defeated Steve Johnson in the 2nd round of Indian Wells (6-3 6-4) his thoughts went to Bruno, and he pointed his finger to the sky. Later, Denis dedicated “officially” the win to Bruno with a message on social media.
Bru ☝🏻 #MissYouMan #RIP❤️ https://t.co/YIcTGsqdwZ
— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) March 11, 2019
I dedicate my win to him. SHAPOVALOV
Then Denis explained why he did that in the following press-conference to say
“I think it was yesterday three years ago and he’s definitely a huge role model of mine. He taught me so many great things. I remember working on my backhand a lot with him. So it’s this time of year I always get emotional a little bit with it. And, yeah, honestly I just wish he was around to see how far I have come and how much; you know, I just hope he would have been proud of me.
