Is Shapovalov a dark horse for the grass season?

George Turner

George Turner

Hall of Fame
Shapo had a forgettable clay season, winning only two matches and becoming Struffs bunny (first time anyone has become "Struffs bunny.") From the first time i seen him play it's been obvious his game is gonna be lousy on clay.

But he can now put this patch behind him and enjoy playing on a surface he likes. He's won Wimbledon Juniors. He's got the lefty serve and the shotmaking skills to thrive here, to compensate for his relative lack of consistency. The talent and game is there, it's a question of whether he can find it. He's overdue a breakthrough, like Tsitsipas has had in the last 12 months.

He needs to find an improved return game and some more court craft to become a top 10 player. If Shapo does find that spark, could he spring some surprises and have a deep run at Wimbledon?
 
Yes. Shapovalov has legit upset potential on grass. The fact that he didn't do much on clay should be a surprise to absolutely no one.

However: the sooner you learn a proper block return, the better. People are going to struggle badly to break this lad's serve on grass, but we'll see an absurd amount of returns into the back fence from his side as well.
 
George Turner said:
Shapo had a forgettable clay season, winning only two matches and becoming Struffs bunny (first time anyone has become "Struffs bunny.") From the first time i seen him play it's been obvious his game is gonna be lousy on clay.

But he can now put this patch behind him and enjoy playing on a surface he likes. He's won Wimbledon Juniors. He's got the lefty serve and the shotmaking skills to thrive here, to compensate for his relative lack of consistency. The talent and game is there, it's a question of whether he can find it. He's overdue a breakthrough, like Tsitsipas has had in the last 12 months.

He needs to find an improved return game and some more court craft to become a top 10 player. If Shapo does find that spark, could he spring some surprises and have a deep run at Wimbledon?
Click to expand...

Bad timing; he lost to Struff in straights today.
I’m not predicting anything for Shapovalov, he’s in the believe it when I see it category. His game looks flash, but he’s just not winning matches.
 
Sysyphus said:
Yes. Shapovalov has legit upset potential on grass. The fact that he didn't do much on clay should be a surprise to absolutely no one.

However: the sooner you learn a proper block return, the better. People are going to struggle badly to break this lad's serve on grass, but we'll see an absurd amount of returns into the back fence from his side as well.
Click to expand...
He won't reach the second week of Wimbledon. The kid lacks the necessary talent for that.
 
Sysyphus said:
Yes. Shapovalov has legit upset potential on grass. The fact that he didn't do much on clay should be a surprise to absolutely no one.

However: the sooner you learn a proper block return, the better. People are going to struggle badly to break this lad's serve on grass, but we'll see an absurd amount of returns into the back fence from his side as well.
Click to expand...

As a shapo fan i still have hope he can develop like Fedr did when he was a young, unforced error headcase.

His poor return game is a mystery to me; even if he started serving like Pete Sampras he'd struggle to win a major with his current return game. He's not a player with obviously limited talent like Raonic or Anderson, Shapo should be doing better on this front.

Blocked returns are defensive shots which is something Shapo needs to learn about generally.
 
Shap's big swings probably aren't the best for grass, especially the first week of play.

and of course, his return sucks.

HC remains his best chance to go far in a slam.
 
For Denis fans like myself, it's been a dismal season, lost to Struff again today. There's just no excuse that he can't (or won't) use his lefty serve to advantage on clay and he's regressing, not making progress. He's still 9 months younger than Tsitsipas, so hopefully he can make some strides by the end of the year.
 
a10best said:
His long and loopy swings did him in on grass like Thiem. His best results will be on HC; 3rd or 4th rds in HC slams. FAA and Milos are the best Canadian stars.
Click to expand...

Shapo should be doing better on grass. At least we know Thiems game is built for clay, while Shapos obviously isn't. We can't give Shapo the same excuses we give Thiem.

Bad ROS and general lack of consistency are costing Shapo, on all surfaces. He's always had shotmaking talent but hasn't developed consistency at all.
 
George Turner said:
Shapo had a forgettable clay season, winning only two matches and becoming Struffs bunny (first time anyone has become "Struffs bunny.") From the first time i seen him play it's been obvious his game is gonna be lousy on clay.

But he can now put this patch behind him and enjoy playing on a surface he likes. He's won Wimbledon Juniors. He's got the lefty serve and the shotmaking skills to thrive here, to compensate for his relative lack of consistency. The talent and game is there, it's a question of whether he can find it. He's overdue a breakthrough, like Tsitsipas has had in the last 12 months.

He needs to find an improved return game and some more court craft to become a top 10 player. If Shapo does find that spark, could he spring some surprises and have a deep run at Wimbledon?
Click to expand...
I died
 
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He's still got time, let's see what USO brings for him. Still like him though, just hope I never even accidentally hear his 'rapping', might choke on my own vomit 'cos of the disgust.
 
George Turner said:
Shapo should be doing better on grass. At least we know Thiems game is built for clay, while Shapos obviously isn't. We can't give Shapo the same excuses we give Thiem.

Bad ROS and general lack of consistency are costing Shapo, on all surfaces. He's always had shotmaking talent but hasn't developed consistency at all.
Click to expand...
Maybe hes not that much of a shotmaking talent and more of a Russian Roulette baseliner
 
Red Rick said:
Maybe hes not that much of a shotmaking talent and more of a Russian Roulette baseliner
Click to expand...
It's definitely a conundrum. In the summer of 2017 I was pretty sure Denis would be top 10 by 2020 and making it at least to slam QF's. That obviously isn't going to happen. He has some wonderful positives: his fitness is excellent and he will always have the lefty serve and has disguise and velocity. He just has to learn how to put all these qualities together and properly use them on court. It may happen that he never learns and he never becomes a truly elite player. He may end up having careers on par with Dimi or Raonic. Time will tell.
 
BeatlesFan said:
He may end up having careers on par with Dimi or Raonic. Time will tell.
Click to expand...

Please don't insult Raonic like that :-)

Raonic broke 6'11" Opelka 4 times at Wimbledon.

Shapo broke 5'9" Berankis 0 times at Wimbledon.

Doesn't matter how good Shapo's lefty serve is if he can never muster a break of serve...
 
Shapovalov's development as a player has been extremely disappointing....fun player to watch but just too error prone
 
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