The Shape Of Things To Come: Denis Shapovalov!

stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
welcome2petrkordaland said:
ok, so I’ve watched this guy and as a lefty, I wanna like him and see him go far. He seems to have one gear/pace, though, which could spell doom against top level versatile players.

1. Way too inconsistent: ok he misses too much, way too much. Although he is clearly a shot maker who at times needs to go big of course, he must learn to play % when appropriate.

2. All offense: While he is a naturally attacking player, he has gotta learn to play D when appropriate. He must use his slice bh more and get comfortable with it. I love his 1-hander but for an array of reasons, he must employ more slice instead of throwing away so many points. Slice also serves as a chance of pace, something that has eluded him thus far.

3. More net play: gotta come in on those big damaging groundies or risk becoming another Verdasco who seemed allergic to the net for most of his career.

4. return of serve: keep improving with exp and learn to use bh slice sometimes.

5. Stop df’ing.

Come on, Shapo! You got the talent.
Click to expand...
Shapo knows net:


He’s been playing a lot of dubs to help the volleys.

DFs are down this season. New service motion is getting settled in.
 
welcome2petrkordaland

welcome2petrkordaland

Professional
stringertom said:
Shapo knows net:


He’s been playing a lot of dubs to help the volleys.

DFs are down this season. New service motion is getting settled in.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I saw that thing of beautaaaay of a deft bh drop volley! Main issue remains that Shapo has got to allow his opponents to miss occasionally, play some D, and improve shot selection, all of which will put pressure back on his opponents as opposed to his current modus operandi of attack, attack, attack with only one pace of shot a la James Blake. When you’re on offense 24/7 and twice on Sundays, the pressure always falls on you to make the shot, and tennis is all about pressure, rt?
 
stringertom

stringertom

Bionic Poster
welcome2petrkordaland said:
Yeah, I saw that thing of beautaaaay of a deft bh drop volley! Main issue remains that Shapo has got to allow his opponents to miss occasionally, play some D, and improve shot selection, all of which will put pressure back on his opponents as opposed to his current modus operandi of attack, attack, attack with only one pace of shot a la James Blake. When you’re on offense 24/7 and twice on Sundays, the pressure always falls on you to make the shot, and tennis is all about pressure, rt?
Click to expand...
BH slice and variations are the next step if he wants to fill out the arsenal. Also, the kicker serve will negate his lefty flu.
 
Gazelle

Gazelle

G.O.A.T.
Joseph_K said:
When was the last time there were more Canadian than American men in the ATP Top 20 singles ranking?
Click to expand...

I suppose quite recently when Raonic was top 20, and there was a short period with no American in the top 20. But then Isner got some good results again and got back to his normal ranking.

Edit: Found it. 6th of november 2016. Raonic was number 5 on that day, no americans in the top 20. Isner though played the Paris Bercy Masters final that day, and the following day he entered the top 20 again due to his points gained for making the final.
 
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Sparlingo

Sparlingo

Hall of Fame
It appears that Rob Steckley is no longer Shapo's coach, not listed as coach on the ATP site. Rumour has it that former coach Adriano Fuoriva is back.
 
Sparlingo

Sparlingo

Hall of Fame
Steckley was only there on a "trial basis" and Steckley said they parted on good terms. Probably a positive thing.
 
prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
I think we should stop saying this as a fact when it's a rumour that only exists here. No one has said anything and until they do I think it's unproductive to assume it's true.
 
prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
Ok well now we have confirmation. I still maintain what I said earlier. Denis is switching up coaches too often. It's almost as if he doesn't trust someone as fully as he needs to. Rob took him to 20 in the world, so what was wrong with that? What more does Denis want from a coach?
 
Sparlingo

Sparlingo

Hall of Fame
prairiegirl said:
Ok well now we have confirmation. I still maintain what I said earlier. Denis is switching up coaches too often. It's almost as if he doesn't trust someone as fully as he needs to. Rob took him to 20 in the world, so what was wrong with that? What more does Denis want from a coach?
Click to expand...


Guess who said this last October:

"I've watched Denis' play all year and witnessed some wonderful moments. But, there have been the losses too, and that's natural. However, it's clear Marty isn't able to return, and his mom has her academy to run. To me, Robert Steckey would be a mistake as his coach. These silly videos and photographs of them as Samurai warriors does not position him as a coach, but more as a friend. A coach needs to fully objective, honest, professional and appropriate. I think if Steckey becomes his coach it could be a mistake. Coaches need to be a bit distant from their talent and not their best friend in video store games. I don't know much about Steckey but he doesn't seem all that professional to me. Now, maybe things are going on that we don't know about. Denis had a good week in Tokyo, but was that due to his mom's coaching, or Robert's? We don't know at this point.

What do people think? "
 
prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
Sparlingo said:
Guess who said this last October:

"I've watched Denis' play all year and witnessed some wonderful moments. But, there have been the losses too, and that's natural. However, it's clear Marty isn't able to return, and his mom has her academy to run. To me, Robert Steckey would be a mistake as his coach. These silly videos and photographs of them as Samurai warriors does not position him as a coach, but more as a friend. A coach needs to fully objective, honest, professional and appropriate. I think if Steckey becomes his coach it could be a mistake. Coaches need to be a bit distant from their talent and not their best friend in video store games. I don't know much about Steckey but he doesn't seem all that professional to me. Now, maybe things are going on that we don't know about. Denis had a good week in Tokyo, but was that due to his mom's coaching, or Robert's? We don't know at this point.

What do people think? "
Click to expand...


Did you, or did I? LOL. I can't help but think that the rap thing might have had something to do with it. Maybe Rob was trying to be friends and not a coach?
 
NuBas

NuBas

Legend
prairiegirl said:
Did you, or did I? LOL. I can't help but think that the rap thing might have had something to do with it. Maybe Rob was trying to be friends and not a coach?
Click to expand...

I thought you supported his rap endeavors? You seem to be very closely concerned about DS to the point where its like he was your son or something.
 
Sparlingo

Sparlingo

Hall of Fame
prairiegirl said:
Did you, or did I? LOL. I can't help but think that the rap thing might have had something to do with it. Maybe Rob was trying to be friends and not a coach?
Click to expand...

That was you, LOL. I've been steadily of the assumption / opinion to give Shapo the benefit of the doubt on his Mother/coach situation, that is -> he knows what he is doing. I once made a comment that he needs to cut the apron strings with his mother and then I withdrew that comment for that same reason. Your comment I quoted was from October of last year so it didn't have anything to do with the rap thing. I don't think Stekney had anything to do with the rap thing either.
 
Sparlingo

Sparlingo

Hall of Fame
Shapo get's a lot of grief for the rap thing but shouldn't. He was asked by the on court interviewer after his first match at IW "will you do a rap for us if you win the next game?" He was game and did it, and the crowd loved it. He said he won't do it again (due I think to a lot of mean spirited people trashing it).
 
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prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
NuBas said:
I thought you supported his rap endeavors? You seem to be very closely concerned about DS to the point where its like he was your son or something.
Click to expand...
Honestly, it's just something to chat about. Read all the other posts before you assume. Some people here watch his every move. I didn't even know he switched coaches until I saw it here. Relax. IMO Rob is more into film and video than anything. Perhaps that's more his goal?
 
bjk

bjk

Hall of Fame
It is kind of weird that Steckley was fired right after Shapo had his career best result, getting to Miami semis and beating Rublev, Tsitsipas and Tiafoe. And he's at a career high ranking of 20, which is pretty good since he's still 19. Same thing with Osaka and her coach. The only thing worse for a coach than losing is winning.
 
raph6

raph6

Semi-Pro
I don't understand the change of coach as he was currently doing well and improving his game. Let's wait the next few days to have more details about this.
 
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prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
Hmm, I know Denis has beaten Struff on HC, but clay might be a different beast. Does anyone here think he could beat Dimitrov?
 
M

Max G.

Legend
Yes. His first two rounds are winnable.

Obviously he's not consistent enough for them to be shoo-ins or easy matches, but he's got his chances in both. Last year, Dimitrov's record on clay was I think 7-5 (if I'm counting right) - exactly the same as Shapovalov's. Struff's was 5-1 at the challenger level and 8-8 at the ATP level (but with more lower-level tournaments).

So he'll have his chances for sure. He could win or lose either of them.

The Nadal match, if he gets there, is a bridge too far of course. But until then he'll have a chance.
 
Joseph_K

Joseph_K

Hall of Fame
Shapo and Félix are playing doubles together in Monte Carlo and will begin their campaign against the Austrian wildcards Dominic Thiem and Jürgen Melzer. The winners of that match will probaby face the no. 2 seeds, Marcelo Melo and Lukasz Kubot.
 
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prairiegirl

prairiegirl

Hall of Fame
Has nothing to do with an inability to defend on clay. When you hit 50+ UE and double fault 10 times, it's hard to win. He handed the match to Struff. Just like he used to play before Rob came along.
 
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