Even at the age of 20, Denis Shapovalov is already considered one of the best tennis players in the world. Currently ranked no. 33 by the ATP, the Russian-Canadian star received media attention two years ago after he defeated Rafael Nadal in the Montreal Open semifinals. Now, it seems that he has set his eyes on performing even better for the upcoming tournaments, starting with the 2019 U.S. Open.
Mikhail Youzhny and Shapovalov’s mother Tessa
In a bid seen by many as an aggressive push for a Grand Slam win, Shapovalov hired new coach Mikhail Youzhny to help him perform better during the 2019 U.S. Open. A former world No. 8, Youzhny was already with Shapovalov during the Winston-Salem Open.
The Canadian player is said to have Youzhny on a trial basis for now as he wants to experiment with different coaching styles. In fact, Shapovalov has been under a few coaches in the past twelve months alone as he wants to stop his decline in the world rankings after his peak of No. 20 in the Miami Open.
It seems that Mikhail Youzhny has a similarly tough and practical style of Denis’ mother Tessa that is following her son all over the world.
Denis Shapovalov against his friend Felix Auger Aliassime
Shapovalov easily flew through the first round of the U.S. Open after he defeated his friend and fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime with a 6-1 6-1 6-4 score. Shapovalov hit a total of 28 winners during the game compared to the 28 unenforced errors and nine winners done by Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime says that Shapovalov was a really dominant player during their game, making it difficult for him to figure out what to do. In fact, he says that he already tried his hardest to hit back harder but he was unable to do so.
Days before their game, Shapovalov has already said that the selection of Auger-Aliassime as his opponent in the opening round of the U.S. Open was difficult because they grew up as friends. The moment he knew that they will be playing against each other on the opening rounds for the second year in a row, he immediately texted Auger-Aliassime and joked about it, according to ATP Tour
.After the match against Felix, Denis had another solid straight-sets win against Henri Laaksonen.
Shapovalov’s live rankings
Denis ranking is already improved after he reached the 3rd round at the Flushing Meadows. As mentioned, the Canadian has a world no.20 career high-ranking. However, he is now down to 33. Shapovalov is currently the world no.31 in the live rankings and if he wins the next match he is projected to be 27 or 28.
John McEnroe compliments Shapovalov
In other news, Shapovalov will be glad if he hears about the fact that a tennis great had complimented him. Former world No. 1 John McEnroe says that the Russian-Canadian player has a bright future in front of him. He even went on to say that Shapovalov is the most similar to him among the latest generation of tennis players. This is because he relates to his energy and intensity.
Shapovalov at the U.S. Open and results in 2019
Ranked no.33, Shapovalov has a 20-19 win-loss record in 2019. Denis is currently playing at the U.S. Open where he defeated Felix Auger Aliassime 6-1 6-1 6-4 and Henri Laaksonen 6-4 7-62 6-2.
Shapovalov will square off with Gael Monfils in the 3rd round. They have never played each so far on the main tour.