At some point, someout outside the Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka realm is going to emerge and win a major.
Denis Shapovalov made a strong statement last night at the Cincy Open as he devoured former 2014 US Open champ Marin Cilic 63 63.
Shapovalov showed a complete arsenal, even Jim Courier analyzing for Tennis Channel stated that “Shapavolov has everything in his game to win a Grand Slam, he just as he do it consistently and at the right time.”
Shapavolov indeed displayed everything in dominating Cilic, power, patience, foot speed, defense, baseline grinding, supreme focus, easy power out of nowhere, and even serve and volley.
The knock on Shapovalov was a suspect shot selection flaw, that his previous version was too aggressive and went for too many shots at the wrong time but coach Mikhail Youzhny has helped to correct those shortcomings.
Shapovalov has put in the hard work too. Inside sources told me he was training very hard in April and May on his own daily with Youzhny at United Academy in Bradenton, Florida, when most other players were relaxing and waiting for the virus to vanish. He later switched to training in the Bahamas. The rewards for that hard work by Shapovalov are paying off now. He’s never looked better, sharper, more intense, more formidable.
Shapavolov has taken some bold steps in his off court life too, he has a Swedish girlfriend who was at the match last night. He just released a rap song called Night Train. He’s making all kinds of moves on the court and off.
At age 21 and ranked 16 in the world, Shapovalov appears ready to make a big move into the top echelon of the ATP and it very well could happen in the following few weeks.
Canada · Cincy Open · Denis Shapovalov
JohnnyTD · August 23, 2020 at 1:59 pm
Shapovalov has spectacular, flashy game, that jumping BH is a beauty but he usually folds vs champs or even steady players with big game, look at his AO match vs Fucsovics for example. Hurkacz has weaker game than Fucsovics but he still has 2-0 H2H vs Shapo. Another thing that i noticed is that Shapovalov twitchier than Roddick, a sign of mental weakness. Anyway, i wish him luck but i will be very surprised if he wins this.
Scoop Malinowski · August 23, 2020 at 4:19 pm
Lendl Agassi Murray Djokovic even Federer were considered mentally suspect in the beginning years but then they figured it out. Expecting Shapovalov to be a top 5 force soon. Best match I’ve ever seen by him was last night.
JohnnyTD · August 24, 2020 at 10:49 pm
“Lendl Agassi Murray Djokovic even Federer were considered mentally suspect in the beginning years but then they figured it out. Expecting Shapovalov to be a top 5 force soon. Best match I’ve ever seen by him was last night.”
Good point 👍
However, for now it’s business as usual, these are Diana’s words about yesterday’s match with Struff which Shapo lost:
“Btw this struff shapo is such a joke. TB was very very low quality…before, shapo was in better shape but he lost his mind when he served for the set..”
Scoop Malinowski · August 25, 2020 at 10:11 am
Shapo now 1-4 vs Struff, lost again to him yesterday. Struff is tough, he’s a player at age 29, ranked top 40 doesn’t get a lot of press. very under the radar player but he has some of the best volleys in the ATP. Dangerous player. Shapo has to solve the Struff puzzle. Sandgren beat Felix yesterday, Sandgren may be the best American right now, or top 3.
Scoop Malinowski · August 25, 2020 at 1:26 pm
Thiem rumored to be dating an Austrian actress named Chiara Pisati, supposedly sighted dining together in Kitzbuhel by a paparazzi.