By: Chris Oddo
Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is ready to make more waves on the ATP Tour in 2019. As the World No.27 readies for a week at the ASB Classic in Auckland, where he’ll meet Portugal’s Joao Sousa in the opening round, Shapovalov shared his thoughts on the upcoming season with Michael Burgess of the New Zealand Herald.
"Honestly, I think I'm in an unbelievable spot," said Shapovalov. "Twenty-seven in the world at 19-years-old. Last year, it's an extremely difficult year for any player. Two years ago, I had a breakthrough, hit top 50 in the world, and last year was about defending that. … Not only did I defend it, I raised my ranking - almost cut it by half - and on top of that, I had my sense of calmness.”
Shapovalov, who went 35-28 in 2018 with three semifinals including one at the Masters level at Madrid, is still searching for his first ATP final appearance.
He went 4-8 against the Top 20 in 2018 and 0-5 against the Top 10. But critically, he gained valuable experience, traveling the full tour for the first time in his career. In 2019, he’ll make his second stop at Auckland, where he fell in the second round to Juan Martin del Potro in 2018.
He’s eager for the challenge, and despite the fact that he’s still a teenager, he feels he’s ready to step up and take his ranking even higher.
"I feel like my game belongs with these guys; my game is where my ranking is. So I feel really motivated this year to keep going forward, keep getting better, keep on going"