Two years ago at the age of just eighteen years, Denis Shapovalov stormed into the Montreal Semi-final beating the likes of Juan Martin Del Potro and Rafael Nadal, during the tournament. The Canadian then garnered a lot of attention for not only his unparalleled hyper-aggressive style but his achievement being a one-handed backhand.
Unfortunately, after that, Denis has not been consistent and is struggling. He is having some phenomenal weeks but again he is also having losing streaks. Denis managed to achieve a high rank of world no.20 but again fell to 38 due to his inconsistent performances.
However, Shapovalov possesses the unquestionable talent and is well aware that he needs to tone down his “funkiness” to start winning titles.
Who is the new coach of Shapovalov?
For this particular reason, he has partnered with former world number 8, and former Russian number 1 Mikhail Youzhny, on a trial basis. He was nicknamed “Colonel” and “Misha” because of his indestructible form of play.
Denis on facing the Frenchman Gael Monfils next, and having Youzhny as his coach said: “He only retired a year ago and has played these guys a lot of times. It helps to kind of get a feel for how he felt when he played them. I think he scouts well. He’s done a good job so far.”
The Frenchman with undeniable flair, Gael Monfils expressed his positivity on the Youzhny-Shapovalov partnership. Gael took a deep dive into the past experiences that he has had with the thirty-seven-year-old Russian, and admitted saying: “My matches with Youzhny were very complicated, I had trouble playing him. He was a guy who could make you uncomfortable. He’ll have good advice for Denis. But Denis has a different game, he’s left-handed, a guy who hits a lot harder.”
The Frenchman who has had a head-to-head career record of one against three further added saying: “Misha was very crafty – he sliced it well and kept the ball very low. It was complicated for me.”
Gael, therefore, analyzed the Youzhny/Shapalov connection and said: “The experience Misha has in the Grand Slams – he made a semi-final here (2006) – it’s important and with Denis, who works hard as he does, it could be an incredible partnership.”
