{"id":86618,"date":"2025-07-23T18:40:27","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:40:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/86618\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T18:40:27","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:40:27","slug":"denis-shapovalov-responds-when-asked-who-has-been-the-toughest-opponent-of-his-tennis-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/86618\/","title":{"rendered":"Denis Shapovalov responds when asked who has been the toughest opponent of his tennis career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Denis Shapovalov continues to impress on the ATP Tour, as he ramps up preparations for his home tournament.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Canadian star won the biggest title of his career in February when Shapovalov defeated Casper Ruud<\/a> in the final of the Dallas Open ATP 500 event.<\/p>\n

Adding another title to his resume last time out, Shapovalov won the Los Cabos Open<\/a> in Mexico, taking down Aleksandar Kovacevic in the final.<\/p>\n

\"DenisPhoto by Matthew Stockman\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Shapovalov will now travel to Toronto for his home Canadian Open<\/a>, an event at which he reached the semifinals eight years ago.<\/p>\n

Several big names have withdrawn from the tournament in Canada, including one player who Shapovalov<\/a> described as the toughest opponent he\u2019s ever played.<\/p>\n

Denis Shapovalov says Novak Djokovic has been his toughest opponent<\/p>\n

During an interview with Streets of Toronto<\/a>, Shapovalov was asked to name the toughest opponents of his tennis career.<\/p>\n

\"DenisPhoto by ALFREDO ESTRELLA\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cNovak [Djokovic] is the opponent I\u2019ve struggled with the most throughout my career, so I would have to go with him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Shapovalov and Djokovic have played one another eight times previously, with the 26-year-old yet to pick up a win over the 24-time Grand Slam champion.<\/p>\n\nMatch<\/strong><\/td>\nWinner<\/strong><\/td>\nLoser<\/strong><\/td>\nScore<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2023 Adelaide 1 \u2013 QF<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n6-3, 6-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2021 Wimbledon \u2013 SF<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n7-6, 7-5, 7-5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2021 ATP Cup \u2013 RR<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n7-5, 7-5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2020 ATP Cup \u2013 QF<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n4-6, 6-1, 7-6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019 Paris Masters \u2013 F<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n6-3, 6-4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019 Shanghai Masters \u2013 2R<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n6-3, 6-3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019 Italian Open \u2013 2R<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n6-1, 6-3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2019 Australian Open \u2013 3R<\/td>\nNovak Djokovic<\/td>\nDenis Shapovalov<\/td>\n6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Denis Shapovalov and Novak Djokovic\u2019s head-to-head record<\/p>\n

The Canadian has played some of the biggest matches of his career against Djokovic, losing his sole Masters 1000 final to the 38-year-old in Paris six years ago.<\/p>\n

They met again on one of the sport\u2019s biggest stages in 2021, when Shapovalov appeared in his first Grand Slam semifinal.<\/p>\n

In straight sets, Shapovalov fell to Djokovic 6-7, 5-7, 5-7, on Wimbledon\u2019s Centre Court, as he failed in his bid to reach the final.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Shapovalov hasn\u2019t returned to a major semifinal since, and has struggled at the sport\u2019s four biggest tournaments recently, winning just two Grand Slam matches in 2025.<\/p>\n

Looking to add a few more wins to his tally in New York next month, Shapovalov is determined to put on a show in front of his home fans first.<\/p>\n

Denis Shapovalov gives his verdict on the fans at the Canadian Open<\/p>\n

Shapovalov will be one of the top-ranked Canadian players in the draw next week, as he explains how \u2018special\u2019 the tournament is for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe National Bank Open in Toronto has a special place in my heart, not just because it\u2019s at home, but because I also won my first ATP match on these courts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always extremely special coming back and playing in front of the home fans here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Awarded a wildcard in 2016, Shapovalov beat Nick Kyrgios<\/a> in round one to secure his first tour-level win.<\/p>\n

\"DenisPhoto by Vaughn Ridley\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Nine years on, Shapovalov has become an established member of the ATP top 50 and is proud of his efforts so far in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really proud of how I started the year. I won the biggest title of my career in February in Dallas and had a good run on hard courts after that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m feeling healthy, which is most important, and I\u2019m excited to keep it going this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

For all his struggles on clay and grass in 2025, Shapovalov has excelled on hard courts, winning 16 of his 23 matches on the surface.<\/p>\n\nTournament<\/strong><\/td>\nResult<\/strong><\/td>\nMatch wins<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nLos Cabos Open<\/td>\nChampion<\/td>\n4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMiami Open<\/td>\nSecond round<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nIndian Wells<\/td>\nSecond round<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMexican Open<\/td>\nSemifinalist<\/td>\n3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nDallas Open<\/td>\nChampion<\/td>\n5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAustralian Open<\/td>\nSecond round<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAdelaide International<\/td>\nSecond round<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nHong Kong Open<\/td>\nFirst round<\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Denis Shapovalov\u2019s hard-court results in 2025<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if Shapovalov can win another title on hard courts this year, but if he were to do so in Canada, it would certainly be a moment to remember.<\/p>\n

The 2025 Canadian Open is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 4.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denis Shapovalov continues to impress on the ATP Tour, as he ramps up preparations for his home tournament.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":86619,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1479,54023,9125,62,1464,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-86618","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-atp","9":"tag-denis-shapovalov","10":"tag-novak-djokovic","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114904014796271726","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86618"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86618\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/86619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}