Annual report Denis Shapovalov 2022: only strong in a team - grade "sufficient"
Another year without a singles title for Denis Shapovalov . In the team competitions, on the other hand, things went splendidly for the left-hander.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Dec 24, 2022, 07:27 am
Stockholm 2019. This is the list. Denis Shapovalov's list of tournament wins. That has not changed this season either, in which Shapovalov is number 18 in the world at the end. Which is of course excellent - on the one hand. But somehow not again when you see that Shapovalov was overtaken by compatriot and (still?) pal Félix Auger-Aliassime. Not only in the charts, after many years of drought in Rotterdam, Auger-Aliassime finally won his first championship on the ATP tour, and then added three more in the fall.
But stop! Denis Shapovalov was able to lift a trophy twice, both times Auger-Aliassime helped him. At the beginning of the season, the two Canadians won the ATP Cup, as it later turned out in its last edition for the time being. And at the end of the season there was also reason to celebrate in Málaga. Because that's when "FAA" and Shapovalov won the Davis Cup for Canada for the first time. However: While Auger-Aliassime was able to win all three singles, Shapovalov was only granted one win. But that was enough.
And otherwise?
Shapovalov beats Nadal in Rome
At the Australian Open, Shapovalov missed a chance against Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals, losing in five sets. Before that, Shapo had prevailed against Alexander Zverev. There was then a semi-final in Dubai, which the 23-year-old Canadian lost to Jiri Vesely by the narrowest of margins. Somewhere the next low blow. In Rome, Shapovalov was able to retaliate against an unfit Nadal, but lost to Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals.
Five (!) first-round defeats followed in Geneva, Roland Garros, Stuttgart, London's Queen's Club and Mallorca. The fall began with a fantastic match against Andrey Rublev at the US Open, which Shapovalov lost in five sets. After all: In Seoul (loss against Yoshihito Nishiioka) and Vienna (loss against Daniil Medvedev) Shapovalov was only missing a win for his second career title.
For 2023, that means first of all: nothing. Because somehow almost everything in Denis Shapovalov's game stands and falls with his backhand, which is nice to look at. But it also surprisingly often ends up off the grid.
The annual grade for 2022: just about enough.