Meet tennis' latest sensation, Denis Shapovalov
— -- Up-and-comers such as Dominic Thiem, Nick Kyrgios, Borna Coric, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz have set the men's tour buzzing this season. Now there's another sensation: Denis Shapovalov. Fresh off a junior title run at Wimbledon, the 17-year-old Canadian showed he's ready for the big leagues Tuesday night in front of his hometown crowd by beating Kyrgios.
Shapovalov did lose his second match to Grigor Dimitrov, but not without some spectacular shot-making.
Here's five things to know about Shapovalov, a player we will be hearing much more about in the coming months and years:
1. Get his name right
The youngster has been hearing his name said a lot recently, and not always accurately.
"It's two parts. So first part is 'Shapo,' then second part is 'valov.' So if you put it together: 'Shapo-valov,'" he explained.
The other thing that irritates him is when people write my name with two n's, "Dennis."
"I get that so much," he said.
2. He has his own tennis club, kind of
Although most aspiring tennis pros in Canada typically train at the National Tennis Center in Montreal, Shapovalov uses a Toronto-area club started by his mother, Tessa, a former player. She is still part of his coaching team.
3. He has a one-handed backhand
Along with Thiem, the precocious Shapovalov is among the few young players with a one-hander, which he points to as one of his weapons.
"When my mom was teaching me to hit with two hands, I started releasing with my backhand," Shapovalov said. "A lot of people actually said, 'Oh, he's too young for a one-hander. It's going to be tough on him.' I think that's why I made my backhand as good as it is today, so much practice, so many people playing to it."
4. He revels in the spotlight
Playing a seeded player on center court, as he did against Kyrgios at the Rogers Cup albeit in front of his home crowd, might be intimidating for some young players, but it's exactly what Shapovalov wanted.
"I love playing on a big stage," he said. "At the start I didn't kind of know how to act. It's tough playing the first time on center court. But by the end of the match, I felt like the crowd really liked it when I was getting pumped up."
And he was able to do plenty of it, producing some big serving and steady nerves to defeat the Aussie in three sets.
5. The locker room is taking note
Kyrgios praised his opponent following their match, saying, "I'm really looking forward to see how he's going to progress into the seniors and transition. He's a top player."
It's just his second ATP event, but Shapovalov is already making some friends among the seasoned players.
"Just in the locker room, Mikhail Youzhny came up to me, and we started talking in Russian," Shapovalov said. "When I was younger, I was at the Rogers Cup, I got a picture with him. He was a star for me. And now you're in the locker room with these guys."
It's somewhere he should find himself a lot more often going forward.
