Shapovalov withdrew from the Next Gen finals earlier this month after qualifying a second straight year for an event showcasing the sport’s young studs. Just prior, he’d struggled in a first-run loss in Paris, losing in straight sets to Richard Gasquet despite racing out to a 3-0 lead in the first. That performance convinced him he’d run out of gas.
For the moment.
“Look, at the end of the day I’m only 19,” Shapovalov told the Star this past week following an exhibition match against Davis Cup captain Frank Dancevic, a charity gig for the Lights Foundation, in front of a posh crowd at Toronto’s Hotel X.
“I told myself that in the last part of the year I was going to play a lot of tournaments.’’ Which he has. “And obviously it wore me down.’’
Bound to catch up with him, given a non-stop schedule and still trying to figure out how to balance his time, his commitments, his endorsement contracts and his heavy media obligations. A player can consult all he or she likes with colleagues, tour veterans, but ultimately it’s an issue of personal pace beyond the touring commitments. Shapovalov may have been playing tennis under his mother’s training eye since age 5, but it’s been a dizzying calliope pretty much since he won the Wimbledon juniors title in 2016.
“Next year I’m going to play it different, definitely,” said Shapovalov, who has recently started working with new coach Rob Steckley. “I’m learning, just as much as my team is learning, everyone’s learning. I just ran out of fuel the last couple of weeks. I pushed through it, did everything I could, but it just wasn’t in me.
“I made the call. I said: Listen, right now I’d rather just go home. Just see my family, rest up for the off-season, come back in 2019 on fire and ready to go again.’’
It was, he’s certain, the right decision, allowing him a fortnight of grace with the folks before heading to the Bahamas to regird his tennis loins.
The punishing schedule has become a point of contention for all players, having to defend points, expected by the ATP to draw ticket-buyers for tournaments all over the world. It’s a non-stop global odyssey.
“Zverev has addressed it a couple of times and I’m definitely going to address it as well. It’s got to change. You can’t keep adding weeks in the year and just expect us to show up every time. It’s a long season and we’re obligated to play a lot of tournaments. And it’s everything — the travel, switching hotels. Even when you’re not playing a tournament week, you’ve got to practise, you’ve got to get ready for the following one.”
Shapovalov notes that it’s even more draining for young players, in the No. 30 to 40 range, trying to climb the rankings ladder. Like best friend and compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, he’s scrambled between the ATP 1000 series, the 500, even the 250. “So that we can get points to get into the bigger tournaments. It drains you and it’s obviously understandable why guys like Rafa and Stan (Wawrinka) and these guys are getting injured. It’s impossible to go a career without injuries because it’s so much tennis, so much wear on your body.’’
He’s still growing into his, at six feet and 167 pounds, building muscle and stamina. But certainly Shapovalov has established his tennis trademarks: explosive energy, dramatic leaping winners, massive flat balls on the backhand, a dogged ability to rally.
At times, it seems like the vaunted Next Gen set is indistinguishable one from another, perhaps because so many of the young men look alike — tall, gangly, fair-haired and not yet a slam-challenge for the vintage Big Four, though Zverev mounted the superstar crest by last weekend beating Novak Djokovic in the ATP final.
“There’s a lot of talent on the rise,” says Shapovalov, “a lot of guys that are the real deal. It’s motivating in a way. Almost every week there’s someone else, someone new, doing really well. It’s inspiring for all of us. Everyone is different. (Daniil) Medvedev has his own style, (Stefanos) Tsitsipas has his own style. I have my own style. We all have weapons and weaknesses. It’s going to be interesting to see who’s able to be the best version of themselves, who’s on top the next couple of years. I definitely see a lot of rank changes in the coming years.’’
He’s lived that already, his career rocket-propelled.
“I believe I’m capable of beating anyone out there. But obviously I did not expect to be where I am at this moment. It’s been happening so quick. Mentally, I’ve had to kind of catch up, you know? When my ranking shot up to 50, I was like, what is going on? I was 150 just two months ago and now it’s a completely different ball game. I’m playing top guys all the time.
“This year I just wanted to stay top 50, maintain that ranking. So I’m really happy to be where I am, 27 in the world. It’s a huge jump from last year. It’s been a really successful season for me. But I have so much room to improve and to grow, so I’m really excited to hit the off-season, hit the next year.”
Shapovalov was asked, if he could time travel, what advice his 19-year-old self would have given his 17-year-old self.
He laughed.
“I’d tell him that at 19 you’re going to be 27 in the world. Any my 17-year-old self would tell me that I’m full of s–t.’’
Rosie DiManno is a columnist based in Toronto covering sports and current affairs. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno