AN UNEXPECTED LOSS

After a strong showing at the ATP Cup at the beginning of January, most would’ve expected a deep run from Shapovalov in the 1st Grand Slam of the season. Guess we were all wrong. The Canadian talent suffered a fair defeat yesterday against Marton Fucsovics by 3-6, 7-6(7), 1-6, 6(3)-7. Did Fucsovics exceed expectations that match, or was Shapo below his standards? Well, both statements are correct. Denis didn’t look like himself, especially on that chaotic 1st set, where he was spraying errors left and right, looking like he had regressed one year on his evolution as a player. He got better in the following set, saving an important breakpoint on the 1st game of the 2nd set. Shapovalov came on top, later on, winning a decisive tiebreak, equalling the score 1-1. On a best-to-five match, sometimes the better player takes longer to adapt to their opponent’s game and has the cushion to eventually go down a set or lose one when they’re on top. When everyone thought that the 20-year-old would finally break through his slump and regain his confidence throughout the rest of the match, Shapovalov completely broke down in the 3rd set. Credit to Fucsovics as well, as he played an excellent match, with incredible serving and ball striking from both sides. The Hungarian won the following sets by 1-6 and 6(3)-7, qualifying himself for the 2nd round of the tournament.

A fairly bad-tempered Denis Shapovalov loses in four sets to Marton Fucsovics.



Shapovalov was in-form and picked by many to have a strong run here.



At one point he complained to the umpire for giving him a code violation when he smashed his racquet but didn’t break it. #AusOpen — The Tennis Podcast (@TennisPodcast) January 20, 2020

WHAT'S IN STORE FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON?

The Canadian hired former ATP player Mikhail Youzhny to his coaching staff back in August 2018, and the results were almost immediate. His calmness during the match, along with the variety he was starting to show in his game, started to being noticed as he slowly improved other aspects he was lacking. He secured his first ATP title in one of the last tournaments of the season in Stockholm, and you could sense all his potential coming together to have an incredible 2020 season. Fast forward to now with the Australian Open underway, and Shapovalov was the 1st seed to have an early exit in Melbourne. Was this a bad match for the Canadian, and he’ll quickly bounce back or will this be the norm for Grand Slams to come? He seems to not have enough consistency yet, especially on bigger stages when the expectations are higher than usual. Although this loss could be a huge blow mentally for Shapovalov, this doesn’t mean that his 2020 season will be lacklustre, as the 1st Grand Slam is where most surprises happen due to it being this early. With Youzhny’s continued work, the hardest challenge for him will be changing the mental part of the game for Shapovalov. However, if he gets it right, the reward could be enormous. Fingers crossed for the youngster to get it right for the remaining of the year.