Former ATP top fifteen player Janko Tipsarevic is now coaching Denis Shapovalov and they are together in Dubai, a Tipsarevic academy coach told me at the IMG International Junior Championships last week in Bradenton, FL.
Stefan Kozlov has won two Casely $10,000 tournaments this month in Sarasota and Miami, beating ATP 1600 player Obrad Markovski in Sarasota 26 76 10-3 and ATP 600 range player Sebastian Gima 26 62 10-3. Earlier last week Kozlov trained with Michael Mmoh at IMG Academy in Bradenton for two days.
John McEnroe faced off with former Tennis-prose.com co-owner and co-founder Dan Markowitz’s son Callum at McEnroe Academy in New York City this week, with the 18 year old Callum besting the 64 year old McEnroe in a close game of 21. McEnroe struggled with his serve while Markowitz, who previously hit with Corentin Moutet as a hitting partner at the Newport Hall of Fame Championships in July 2023, is in his first year at Vanderbilt University.
Several star players attended the Formula 1 auto race in Dubai including Grigor Dimitrov, Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
On Saturday at the IMG Academy, a ceremony court dedication was held to rename the stadium court after Nick Bollettieri. Several former academy players attended including Ann Grossman, Tommy Haas, Monica Seles, Max Mirnyi, Kathy Horvath, Jimmy Arias.
McEnroe acrylic painting by Sarasota based artist Karin Billings.
Denis Shapovalov · IMG · John McEnroe · Stefan Kozlov
Steve · December 11, 2024 at 8:10 am
I hope Tipsarevic gels with Shapo. I don’t think he’ll let him be too goofy in practices and I can’t imagine he would ever be there to just be his buddy or travel companion.
Scoop Malinowski · December 11, 2024 at 2:41 pm
Steve, it’s a very interesting union. SO many of us projected Shapo to be a top ten player contending for Grand Slams. But he’s been a major underachiever. For Shapo to connect with a guy like Tipsy is a good sign that he means business now. I predict Shapo’s best results are coming in 2025.