Q&A with Denis Shapovalov

Merchant of Tennis caught up with Denis Shapovalov to discuss how he is enjoying playing some professional events, as well as, junior tournaments!  He has had a great season winning this year's U18 Indoor Junior National Boy's Singles title, as well as, the U18 Rogers Outdoor Junior National Boy's Singles title.

Here is what he had to say.

Q: When did you start playing tennis?

I started to play tennis at the club my mom was coaching at when I was 5 years old. My mom was the person who started my career and helped me get to where I am now.

Q: When and how did you decide that you wanted to make playing tennis your career?

Tennis has always been a big part of my life. I always had a passion for it. Also, my mom was a professional tennis player and has been coaching me since she stopped playing. She has even opened up her own tennis club called Tessatennis now. So this being said, I have a tennis family so it wasn’t hard for me to decide that I want to make tennis my career and I had decided from a young age.

Q: What do you miss the most while you are traveling and playing tennis on tour?

When I travel I miss my family a lot. I love spending time at home with my family so when I travel it is definitely something I miss a lot. Also, I start missing some of my close friends from back home. When I am in town I make sure that I make time to catch up with my family and friends.

(First Round win at the 2015 Wimbledon Juniors. )

Q: You recently won the U18 Indoor Junior National Boy's Singles title, can you share your feelings and emotions when you won?

Winning the under 18 Canadian Nationals was a very proud moment for me and my team. Nationals has been a title I always wanted and had trouble capturing. It is a great honour to finally be able to capture the biggest title of my country and I want to thank my team fully for it. They have all put in so much work in me and without their help I would surely still not have the title today.

Q: Many players are going to play tennis in the US College system, are you looking forward to going to college or do you hope to keep playing tournaments?

My dream has always been to become a top tennis player and winning Grand Slams. So, going to college is not my priority. I still think it is important to have a backup plan which is why I am working hard to finish high school. However, I will do everything I can to try to achieve my dream so I am not really thinking about going to college.

(After a hit with Federer at the 2014 Rogers Cup)

Q: You are currently the 3rd highest ranked Canadian junior, what is up next for you?

I am hoping to qualify and do well at the Junior US Open. My goal is to be top 60 in juniors by the end of the year. It’s a tough goal to achieve but I am going to try my best.

Q: You come off as very dedicated to the sport and your future, is there some people you want to thank?

First off I want to thank my parents Tessa and Viktor Shapovalov. My mom has been coaching me since I was 5 and she is still coaching me along with my other coach Adriano. She even opened up her own tennis club (Tessatennis) to help give me a home base to train at. My father has also been involved my tennis my whole life. He manages everything for me which is not easy to do.

I want to also thank my coach Adriano Fuorivia for putting in all the hard work and time that he has into me and my game. He is not only a coach to me but a great friend. Adriano and my mom have worked so hard as a team to get me to my level now which I am grateful for. 

Also, my sports physiotherapist Dr. Nicholas Martichenko has put a ton of work into me as well. For the past two years he has worked hard to keep me as injury free as possible as well as ensuring that I’m as fit as I can be. Another person I would like to thank is Clement Golliet, my fitness coach. He is always looking forward to torture me in fitness! We work fantastic together and he has made me so fit over the past 6 months since he started working with me. Without him I wouldn’t be as strong and as quick on the court as I am. 

Lastly, I would like to thank Tennis Canada for their support.

Every single person in my team has a very important roll to have gotten me to where I am today. They work very well as a team and communicate a lot to see what they think the next steps for me are. I am very thankful for every single one of them.

Speed Round

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