vive le beau jeu !
Talk Tennis Guru
has denis decided to work as a PRC talent hunter this season?... 
The Shape Of Things To Come: Denis Shapovalov!
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Steffi-forever
Hall of Fame
At this moment, he’s #89 on the race ranking.has denis decided to work as a PRC talent hunter this season?...
Joseph_K
Hall of Fame
Before this week, Denis Shapovalov had gone 3-7 in singles since reaching the third round of the Australian Open back in January. On Monday the Canadian beat Brandon Nakashima in first-round action at the French Open. When the same two players met at last year's Wimbledon tournament, the American surprised a number of observers by coming through in four sets.
In Paris two days ago the tables were turned as the Canadian emerged the victor after a five-set battle in which Shapovalov at one stage led by two sets to love. The final score was 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3.
Tomorrow Shapovalov, who is seeded no. 26, takes on the 22-year-old Italian Matteo Arnaldi in what will be a first meeting between the two players. If the Canadian wins, it will be the first time he has won two matches in a row since reaching the third round in Melbourne back in January of this year.
In Paris two days ago the tables were turned as the Canadian emerged the victor after a five-set battle in which Shapovalov at one stage led by two sets to love. The final score was 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3.
Tomorrow Shapovalov, who is seeded no. 26, takes on the 22-year-old Italian Matteo Arnaldi in what will be a first meeting between the two players. If the Canadian wins, it will be the first time he has won two matches in a row since reaching the third round in Melbourne back in January of this year.
Joseph_K
Hall of Fame
A laborious four-set win for Denis Shapovalov against Matteo Arnaldi earlier today in second-round action in Paris. The Canadian had countless break points, some of which he took, but could have won in straight sets if he had been more consistent. He himself faced a break point only once in the whole match, in the fourth game of the second set. He lost that point and the game and, ultimately, the set, but recovered in the following two sets for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
In the third round Shapovalov will take on the no. 1 seed and world no. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, for a place in the Last 16. These two players have never met each other before.
In the third round Shapovalov will take on the no. 1 seed and world no. 1, Carlos Alcaraz, for a place in the Last 16. These two players have never met each other before.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
Too bad for Denis. I wish I could say otherwise, but I doubt anyone here believes he has any chance of winning a match against Carlitos. As it is, I will be shocked if he even gets a set. AC would have to be having his worst day ever, and Denis would have to be having the best day ever! Sometimes miracles happen, but I think Denis will be out tomorrow. Unfortunate, as he is starting to play a bit better.
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
Yes, likely a rough result ahead for Shapo but what an attractive matchup!
Here’s to a thriller, chock full of crowd-pleasing tennis. Allez!
albertobra
Hall of Fame
Shapo feeling well on court and timing well the ball. I believe it's gonna be an interesting one. Looking forward how the matchup works out.
albertobra
Hall of Fame
LOL to my poast.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
But you were correct, Denis is playing well. He played better today by far than he did earlier this year. Alcaraz was simply too good. Few people could have beaten Carlos today.
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middleballs
Professional
Denis might have been a bit better today, but he’s still as frustrating to watch ans ever. His problems has been discussed at length so I’m going to keep it short and just say that his bad habits are getting the best of him. He seems to be completely stuck with the image of being that teenage wunderkind who beat Nadal. He still wants to be flashy and blast his opponent off the court. If that doesn’t work, then there’s no reason to play so trying to change would be pointless anyway.
I think everyone who is a disappointed fan is failing to realize his strengths: he has great offense. But especially on clay, you need to be able to defend, too.
A short from Mouratoglou just popped up on my YT feed, and he says that today's game favors the counterpunchers.
I love watching Shapo, but his game isn't built on counterpunching.
A short from Mouratoglou just popped up on my YT feed, and he says that today's game favors the counterpunchers.
I love watching Shapo, but his game isn't built on counterpunching.
At the minimum, stopping doing J toss should help big time without any changes in other aspects of his game.
Without his DF problem he could have nailed the 2nd set.
I think long-term Denis should emulate Raonic 2016-2019 in terms of gameplan - working on net game and playing serve-and-volley 20-30% of his 1st serves.
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
Could be intelligent To just commit to attacking like milos. But milos was of a different body type. Massive, with limited mobility. Shapo can move, so defense is not out of the question.
Conundrum, eh
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
But Raonic and Denis are two massively different players with entirely different game styles and temperaments. Raonic had a massive serve and an anemic volley. His movement was abysmal. His strengths and weaknesses are entirely different from Shapo's issues.
Denis is far more talented and nuanced, his issues are mental and he continues with woeful shot selection.
Denis lacks the temperaments to rally - but he is quick at the net. Plus, his 1st serves are very good for serving-and-volleying if they are in.
Plus, Denis FH is of the same type of FH as Tiafoe, Sock, Kyrgios, Khachanov, Paul... - the heavily wristy *NextGen FH*. You can notice all of them have one FH weakness - hitting FH on the move and when being rushed/dragged out wide. Thus, Shapo cannot defend on his FH side, Shapo cannot hit running FHs to save his life even though he can move. I would take say, Sinner FH over Shapo FH.
ShovelBackhand
New User
They are kind of comparable because they're both serve dependent players. Also even though shapovalov's a way better athlete he's as bad of a defender. Shapovalov's return stats are pretty bad, and Raonic was a very good volleyer in 2016 with a much more reliable serve than Shapo. Even Murray had a hard time passing him that year. Shapo like Raonic before his best years has brick hands asides from a good stab here and there, and I hope to see some similar improvements.
My idea came from the AO 2022 QF against Nadal - his turnaround in the 3rd and 4th sets began when he started serving-and-volleying a lot. Compared to pre-2016 Raonic, he has more mobile feet and is actually quick at the net (though both are worse than say, Tsitsipas who is actually a good volleyer).
Admittedly, I also subscribe to the idea that your serve is naturally more potent and reliable when serving-and-volleying - because you toss more and lean your body forward more than when staying back (especially when Shapo's biggest serve problem is that his J tosses that often land over his head).
ShovelBackhand
New User
It would be amazing if he somehow gets as good at the net as Carlos. They are both great athletes and around the same height, but shapo got a long way to go for that kind of touch.
He should try to be a good *technical* volleyer - like Raonic since 2016. Alcaraz is a freak though (Cressy actually volleys even better than Alcaraz - but then dude is a full-time serve-and-volleyer), but he is not that far away from Tsitsipas and Hurkacz (while others like the Russian guys are far worse).
OTOH, his 1st serves should give loads of sitter volleys. Shapo often hit sitters into the net or long from the baseline due to overhitting, but at the net that problem should be mitigated by the fact that a volley must be punched with Continental grip and limited backswing.
Still, if only he has Feliciano Lopez's touch and slice.
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ShovelBackhand
New User
Hurkacz and Feli have really nice feel, but in particular feli could not cover the net that well. Hopefully shapovalov can meet them half-way with his mid-tier hands but elite athleticism. Although Feli was a good athlete, he really didn't lunge for reachable volleys that often.
You know, the Borg approach to volleying. Of course due to the demand of that era, Borg volleyed better than these NextGen, but the general principle still stands.
I would say for Shapo it should the mix between the Borg approach and the Ivanisevic approach (due to Shapo's nasty lefty serves). I mean, from my own observation, Shapo rarely has to make tough volleys when S&V-ing because of his powerful 1st serves.
slice bh compliment
G.O.A.T.
I know Shapo is not known for his hands at net, but he can work on this. Good athlete. Hard worker, fit guy. Allez!
Joseph_K
Hall of Fame
After reaching the third round at the recent French Open, Denis Shapovalov returns to action this week in Stuttgart, where he will face the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in a first-round match featuring two unseeded players. The Canadian has few points to defend from this time last year, indeed from last summer as a whole, so will be looking for some success in the coming weeks.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
Unless Denis makes major changes in attitude and his game he is not winning anything in the near future. This is not about a new coach or a great attitude. He works hard but not on the right things.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
If only!
He looks like he doesn't want to be there anymore. Just going through the motions. Something else besides knee and shoulder issues going on - depression? Something else?
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
Joseph: This is not about temperament although I didn't see the whole match. I find him unwatchable now. We've discussed D's problems endlessly here. I have come to the sad conclusion there is no help for him. Unless he would work with someone like McEnroe or Federer (and why would they?) he has no way forward now. He's come to the end. Denis' trajectory is only downwards now. I don't see any hope for his career. He doesn't look like he wants to be out there. He looks uninterested and unhappy. I don't know the problem but he should take a year off before he ends up on the challenger tour.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
I posted previously that I watched Denis practice and play live at IW in March for 4 days. I've seen him there multiple times before in prior years where he was friendly, exciting to watch and engaged on court.
Something was clearly wrong with him this year. He was petulant, very short with fans, not especially friendly to Rune or Fritz when practicing with them (though friendly with Felix when they played doubles). Denis clearly tanked his singles match and couldn't have cared less about his doubles matches. Very frustrating to see and I thought to myself then I can't root for him anymore going forward. Whether he has a lingering injury I don't know but he's mentally gone right now. He has so much talent, he's so fun to watch when he's on, but maybe he can never get it back.
Today against Fucsovics he served 44% with 11 DFs (11!!) He's 9-11 in 2023.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
BF; interesting insights. Yes, I wonder if he tanked today too. He seemed completely detached. I agree with the assessment you gave above. Something is deeply wrong and I have often wondered if he has ADD or ADHD but it goes untreated.
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
Each day there are better players, the sport does not stay stagnant, and the window closes quickly. He may not even end up having the career of Dimitrov, which isn't horrible but such promise for Shapo just a few years back. You certainly would have been in the minority suggesting FA2 would have a better career than Shapo, but here we are. Neither one appears to be Slam winner material at this point. Felix, hence his ranking is much more consistent.
asifallasleep
Hall of Fame
I think he's the super talented guy who grew up beating everyone on talent alone and never had much resistance. Then, he get's to the big time, where everyone is good and talent alone just won't cut it.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Denis is clearly very talented and he works hard since he does not wilt physically in long matches.
His issues are motivation, extremely poor coaching, point construction and rally tolerance. But these are all the same issues he faced as a rookie in 2017. I have no answers at this point. I'd love to see Denis get elite coaching (Youzhny was good, but not elite). Magnus Norman would be a dream coach for him.
GrassCourtFan
Legend
It feels like this year it's something more. He's really fallen apart mentally - he's always been inconsistent, but he hasn't had such long stretches of not just missing but clearly tanking and not even wanting to be on court.
I've always thought that in past years, it was his technical issues (inconsistency) that caused his mental troubles... but this year, it's the other way around.
I agree with the comment about point construction and rally tolerance, but do NOT agree that his issue is poor coaching. Lots of players manage just fine without elite coaches, and Shapovalov's coaches haven't been the kind of toxic trainwrecks that sometimes derail players careers' (e.g. Tomic's dad). Shapovalov's coaches, as far as I can tell, have been fine. No, they haven't been able to fix his inconsistency issues... ...but the common factor there is Shapo himself, not the coaches. He's tried all sorts of coaching - some former players and some not, some strangers and some people who have known him forever, Youzhny who was a level above what Shapo has achieved so far.
I've always thought that in past years, it was his technical issues (inconsistency) that caused his mental troubles... but this year, it's the other way around.
I agree with the comment about point construction and rally tolerance, but do NOT agree that his issue is poor coaching. Lots of players manage just fine without elite coaches, and Shapovalov's coaches haven't been the kind of toxic trainwrecks that sometimes derail players careers' (e.g. Tomic's dad). Shapovalov's coaches, as far as I can tell, have been fine. No, they haven't been able to fix his inconsistency issues... ...but the common factor there is Shapo himself, not the coaches. He's tried all sorts of coaching - some former players and some not, some strangers and some people who have known him forever, Youzhny who was a level above what Shapo has achieved so far.
Joseph_K
Hall of Fame
A win – a palpable win – for Denis Shapovalov earlier today in first-round action on the grass in Halle, where he defeated the revenant Lloyd Harris in straight sets, 7-6(1), 6-4. The Canadian might have faced his compatriot Felix Auger Aliassime in the second round, but the latter has withdrawn from the tournament, so Shapovalov will next take on either Alexander Zverev or Dominic Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals.
prairiegirl
Hall of Fame
Let's hope it's Thiem as he is not in form. But he has defeated Zverev twice so either way a tough road ahead.
BeatlesFan
Bionic Poster
Remember Zverev hasn't played on grass in 2 years. Denis would have a good chance against him and I expect Z to get past Thiem.
mental midget
Hall of Fame
i'd love to see denis find his form...just an interesting player to have in the mix, swashbuckling lefty 1hbh capable of some really great play. playing to his full potential he's an exciting addition to tour dynamics and can trouble just about anyone.
but man...will he ever find it? not that it would ever happen but i think he's the player i'd most like to see roger coach...he might actually listen to him, and rog could probably help him deal with 'options-itis' and channel his talent a little more effectively.
GrassCourtFan
Legend
Maybe, but man, I'm not convinced that what he needs is an elite coach who can help him figure out "option-itis". I think there are some fundamental technical issues that lead to him being inconsistent, I think he'll never be consistent until he figures them out, and I'm not sure a former ATG is the right person to try and figure out the technical aspect.
I could be wrong though. I mean he certainly shouldn't turn down the option to get coached by an elite ATG if he gets it, but... I don't think he'll get it because the ATGs would also see that they're not the ones that could help him.
I could be wrong though. I mean he certainly shouldn't turn down the option to get coached by an elite ATG if he gets it, but... I don't think he'll get it because the ATGs would also see that they're not the ones that could help him.
Marius_Hancu
Talk Tennis Guru
Yes. I tweeted to him:
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Also work on your ball contacts, some of them are too unsafe, eg, returns, wrt Djoko. Suggest contacting John Yandell of http://tennisplayer.net site, truly an expert in high-speed filming of tennis and the corresponding analysis of it.
This because I am sure you are doing things which are visible only with high speed cameras, e.g. angles, planes, places on the string bed where your contact which can be improved.
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No answer since Jan. nor changes.
I've just sent a message to his agent, Max Eisenbud, on the matter, asking him to forward it to Denis. Not that I expect very much in terms of reaction.
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Who is his new coach since Polansky is gone? I saw his physio and another guy in the stands in his last match.
I've watched Shapo over the years at IW: he goes hard during practice sessions (saw him vs. Dimitrov and Goffin a few years ago). Watched him play dubs w/ Bopanna last year, taking out Murray and Soares. Didn't catch him this year, though. Would hate to see him disinterested like a few have mentioned this year.
I think he has zero chance of landing a big coach, not to mention the likes of Roger.
I've watched Shapo over the years at IW: he goes hard during practice sessions (saw him vs. Dimitrov and Goffin a few years ago). Watched him play dubs w/ Bopanna last year, taking out Murray and Soares. Didn't catch him this year, though. Would hate to see him disinterested like a few have mentioned this year.
I think he has zero chance of landing a big coach, not to mention the likes of Roger.
GrassCourtFan
Legend
I mean, of the various coaching options available to him, I'd expect "listen to randos who send you tweets" is pretty low on the list.
Frankly fixing it is simple, tossing to the left at 11 o’clock (he is a lefty) and tossing straight (instead of tossing in a J curve) are the easiest things to do when tossing.
Joseph_K
Hall of Fame
Denis Shapovalov has gone 4-4 in singles play since the beginning of April 2023, so will be hoping for a good run at Wimbledon, which starts tomorrow and where he is the no. 26 seed in the men's singles event. He begins his campaign tomorrow on Court No. 12 where he will take on the Moldovan qualifier Radulescu Albot. Their head-to-head currently stands at 1-1, but they haven't met on grass before.
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