Denis Shapovalov says winning the Dallas Open ‘means a lot’ after facing questions about his form on the Tour in recent months.
The Canadian capped off a stellar week in America on Sunday with a 7-6(5), 6-3, win over second seed Casper Ruud, who was the third top 10 seed he had beaten in the tournament. Earlier in the draw, he also recorded wins over last year’s US Open runner-up Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. Coming into the tournament, Shapavalov was ranked outside the world’s top 50 and was ranked as low as 140th in July.
“It means a lot,” Shapovalov said of his win during an interview with The Tennis Channel.
“There’s always a lot of noise around. A lot of people talking me down.
“So it definitely means a lot to win this one and kind of prove everyone wrong.
“And I think it’s been great the work that my team has done. None of this would be possible without them.”
The 25-year-old has faced plenty of obstacles during his career. Two years ago a serious knee injury sidelined him from the Tour for six months and there were moments that he doubted his ability to play at the top level again. Last season he compiled a win-loss record of 26-23 and won the Belgrade Open in Serbia. Meanwhile, this year he was yet to win back-to-back matches before staging a staggering run in Dallas.
“I was a big question, if I would even return to tennis with my knee injury, I wasn’t really able to get back on court without pain for for quite a while.” He said.
“So to work my way back and to win two titles in the last couple of months, it really means a lot that all the work that I’ve been putting in into every, every session is paying off.”
As for dealing with his critics, Shapovalov admits his style of play isn’t always the prettiest and is sometimes misinterpreted by those watching him.
“At the end of the day with the game style like mine, when things are working, it looks really good and when things aren’t working, it looks like I’m tanking out there,” he said.
Dallas is the first ATP 500 event Shapovalov has won in his career and he has risen 22 places in the PIF ATP rankings this week to 32nd place.
