My life has changed: Denis Shapovalov - UBITENNIS

My life has changed: Denis Shapovalov

By Pawan Atri
3 Min Read
(Denis Shapovalov – photo via zimbio.com)

Canadian sensation Denis Shapovalov is trying to come to terms with his new found fame after the teenager got robbed by fans in his native country recently.

Shapovalov, who will be beginning his 2018 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, became an overnight celebrity in Canada when he upset former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal at the Montreal Masters during the North American hard-court leg of the ATP tour.

After defeating Nadal and Del Potro, the 18-year-old achieved another big win at the US Open by beating former Australian Open runner-up Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round of the tournament. His exploits on the men’s circuit has helped him in attaining an impressive ranking of 51 and he is one of the players, the pundits are backing to do really well in 2018.

Commenting on his instant fame, Shapovalov said: “It was really cool, I got pretty famous quite quickly, especially in Toronto.”

“A couple of weeks after the US Open I was trying to walk around the malls in Toronto and I kept getting stopped.

“Fortunately, now it’s died down a bit and I’m able to go places again. 

“But it’s been really interesting and a lot different going from just being a regular high school student, to having your face on magazines and being talked about, it’s been pretty overwhelming to be honest.”

The left-hander also revealed that he was a bit nervous initially while facing Nadal and Del Potro, but calmed down once the contests against the two started.

“Definitely at the beginning I was a bit overwhelmed, seeing Del Potro or Rafa on the other side of the net,” he said.

“But once I started playing in the matches and stopped focusing on who was on the other side of the net, I started trying to just beat my opponent and that’s what really helped me out in those matches.

“I stopped paying attention to who I was playing and just tried to beat another guy.”

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