Denis Shapovalov has branded a claim by his former coach that he hasn’t always prioritized his tennis career as ‘awful.’
Mikhail Youzhny guided the Canadian between 2019 and 2021 in what was a successful collaboration. During that period, Shapovalov achieved his best Grand Slam result with a run to the semi-finals of the 2021 Wimbledon championships and reached a high of No.10 in the world. However, the partnership ended with Youzhny telling Tennis Majors that there were disagreements over scheduling and he felt more like a hitting partner than a coach.
Shapovalov reportedly tried to rehire Youzhny the year after they split but an agreement was never reached with the Russian having his concerns.
“I felt like I can’t bring him the change he needed – he is listening, but he is not fully doing what he needs to do in order to be a top player,” said Youzhny.
“Two or three years ago, he was one of the guys who could consistently be in the top 10, but for that to happen, he needed to change a few things outside tennis.”
“He must be healthy 100 percent, first and foremost, and physically better. Main thing – he has to try to put tennis as his priority. It is his priority for most of the time, but in my opinion, he made some wrong decisions where he didn’t make tennis as the priority”.
Taking to social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Shapovalov has hit back at claims that he is not fully dedicated to his sport. He is currently ranked 109th in the world but hasn’t played since Wimbledon due to a knee injury.
“Awful how can someone can go out of their way to say I’m not giving everything for my tennis when I’ve dedicated my whole life to it from the age of 5,” he wrote.
“Not to mention being injured since Wimbledon, rehabbing and doing everything I can every single day just to get back on court.”
The 2023 season has been a struggle for Shapovalov who won back-to-back matches in only four out of 13 tournaments played between January and July. However, he reached the third round of both the Australian Open and French Open, as well as the last 16 at Wimbledon.
Shapovalov has won one ATP title so far in his career and earned more than $11M in prize money. He is now coached by Matt Daly, according to the ATP website.
