When World No.143 Denis Shapovalov turned up at the Rogers Cup in August 2017 and beat Rafael Nadal and Juan Martin Del Potro, the tennis world sat up and took notice.
Ten months on from that breakthrough, the exciting Canadian is ranked 26 in the world and is about to make his maiden appearance in Eastbourne as he finalises his preparations for Wimbledon.
“A couple more matches would be ideal to get ready for Wimbledon,” he said. “Obviously that’s the big one everyone is looking forward to and focusing on.”
“I feel like my game is really coming along. I feel pretty ready for this week, so hopefully I can do some damage at this tournament.”
Shapovalov lost 7-6(7) 7-6(6) to Gilles Muller at Queen’s last week, and that early loss has made him hungry for more match time ahead of the year’s third Grand Slam.
“Having lost in the first round, I definitely knew that I wanted to come here and get a couple of matches under my belt.”
Shapovalov seeks to develop his grass-court game
The Canadian enjoys playing on grass but he has only feature in 13 matches on the surface at senior level and feels like he still has a lot to learn.
“The fast courts tend to suit my aggressive game and big serve,” he said. “I like to come to the net, too, and aggressive players that come forward tend to do well on this surface.”
“Obviously I feel like I still have a lot of room to improve on the grass. I have a lot less experience than a lot of the other players on the surface, but I feel like it’s going to be a really good surface for me in a couple of years.”
Shapovalov seems happy to be in Eastbourne. “I’m enjoying it so far,” he said. “It’s a really chilled environment before a slam – ideal for the players.”
“Normally in a slam it’s pretty hectic, so players like to have a calm environment. A tournament like this is perfect, right on the sea, a small little town, so it’s pretty friendly.”
The Canadian continued. “The tournament has done a great job. The courts are looking great and I’m getting really excited for this week.”
Shapovalov reflects on Coric’s win over Federer
During his pre-tournament press conference, Shapovalov was asked to comment on Borna Coric’s victory over Roger Federer at Halle and the progress of the NextGen players.
“It wasn’t that big of a shocker to me that he beat Roger,” the Canadian said. “Obviously it’s always tough to beat a guy at that level, but Borna has been playing unbelievable tennis this year, so I’m happy for him. Hopefully he can continue it at Wimbledon.”
He continued, “It just shows us that it’s possible to beat these guys. Even though they are so dominant, we have the potential (to win), and it’s honestly pretty cool to have a group of young guys like this with such talent and such a high level coming up together.”
