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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 5, 2018

Denis Shapovalov

Wimbledon, London, England

B. PAIRE/D. Shapovalov

0-6, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. What are you most disappointed about?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Losing.

Q. Any particular thing about the way the match went and your chances and set point in the fourth set, Paire's ball on the line?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No, it was too good. He played a very good match and I didn't play so well today. He deserved to win clearly today.

I had all the momentum after the first set, and I blew that. After that, he played really well and I wasn't able to play well.

Q. Just a bad day? Do you see any reason why you couldn't find the level you wanted today?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I don't know what it is. Obviously I wasn't able to sustain my level today. Missing a lot of first serves.

It's probably the big key of it, but, you know, I just have to look over the match again and just do some brainstorming, find out why, you know, this kind of thing keeps happening.

It was kind of the same story in the French Open. I had a lot of momentum going my way, and then all of a sudden it just slipped away from me. Yeah, it's a little bit disappointing.

You know, I didn't have a good grass court season. I got some tough draws. Wasn't able to play my best tennis today, and, yeah, we'll just have to move on from it and just learn from it.

Q. What's the trickiest part of his game?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: He was serving really well today. After the first set it was tough to get a hold on his serve. You know, he was hitting a lot of aces, close to the line, hitting big.

Like I said, he played a very good match. He played me smart. He didn't give me a lot of rhythm. It was tough. I think, like I said, the biggest key today was me not being able to generate a lot of first-serve percentage, a big first-serve percentage, and, yeah, that was it.

Then off the ground, I mean, it was pretty even. Obviously on set point he hit an unbelievable shot. But, you know, it's tennis. That can happen. I had a chance in the tiebreak. Got an early lead. I let that slip.

Q. I thought it was really close. It could have gone your way, too. Obviously you're really disappointed with what happened. I think when you look back on it you'll see there are just a few little things there. You know that.
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I mean, it was a close match, for sure. Like I said, it's something that's a little bit reoccurring, French Open and here. I had a little bit of momentum. So it's about, yeah, sustaining that momentum. And that's what the top players do so well, like a Roger and Rafa. When they're in the lead they play even better and it's even tougher to play against them.

It's the second time where I have let it slip in the last two slams, so something I have to look back, change a little bit. But, yeah, like you said, it was close. Especially in the fourth set, it was a couple of points' difference. You know, could have gone my way. So it's disappointing, but, yeah, I'll get through it. But thank you (smiling).

Q. Where do you go next? Do you head home? Get back on the court? Take some time off, do some soul searching, process it more mentally than tactically?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Well, I think first I'm going to go visit Toronto, see my parents, see my father back there, see my dogs. Just regroup a little bit. Maybe go home to the Bahamas for a week, just chill out. Yeah, just regroup.

You know, the part of the season that's coming up for me, it's a lot of points to defend, so, you know, I should try to get my game to the top level playing well. I think it's very doable. I have been playing exceptionally well in practice.

So, yeah, we'll see how it goes, but I'm definitely going to try to take a couple days, couple weeks off and just hit the courts again and get back to work.

Q. It's still far away, but the Davis Cup tie against Holland will be in Toronto. How special is that for you?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, it's incredible. I've always dreamed of playing Davis Cup at home in Toronto. It's right there in my home city.

So it's going to be something unique. I know there is going to be a lot of people coming out for it. Hopefully we can stack up a good team. All of us are healthy and playing. Yeah, it's going to be a lot of fun.

Holland is tough. They have some tough players, but I think if we have our full team we definitely have a shot of winning it. Of course with the home court advantage, playing in Toronto, it's going to be pretty loud and pretty exciting.

Q. You played the No. 1 of Holland, Robin Haase, earlier this year. What do you remember of that match and his qualities?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, it was a tough match. He's a really good player. He's really solid off the baseline, has got a really good first serve. I remember he would never give me any points off doubles or anything like that.

He's really solid. He doesn't give you an inch. It's going to be a tough match. I think if I play well, if I play aggressive against him, I'll definitely have a chance there.

Like I said, playing at home, it's always a huge advantage with the home crowd.

Q. I guess you haven't been home since the middle of April? Does that seem like a long time to you?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, since Monte-Carlo. Yeah, it's been a while, but I have been all right because my parents have been visiting me. In between I got a week off to kind of vay-cay. I don't feel too homesick.

Obviously it's nice to go back to Toronto and see my dogs. And my brother. (Laughter.) We should cut that part out (smiling.) But it's a little bit disappointing how the season ended, how the last couple of tournaments didn't quite turn out the way I wanted to. But it's part of the sport. I'm young. I'm learning. So hopefully I can just learn from it.

Q. Your next tournament would be Washington?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, Washington.

Q. We talked with a lot of people this week about wanting things too much. I know you really like the grass and you feel like you can do some serious damage. Do you think that's a part of it at all?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I think it maybe could kind of come into effect. I was really looking forward to the grass court season. Once you kind of get here, it's a bit of a panic because it's so short. If you get some bad draws, it's like it's not easy to get a rhythm and feel good on it.

Yeah, it's kind of what happened. Obviously I thought I had a very tough draw coming here. Got a little bit easier with Andy pulling out, but it was still pretty tough. And Benoit, you've seen that he can play on grass. He pushed Roger. Probably should have won that match. Yeah, he played really well today.

It's another tough draw. You know, a little bit of bad luck. A little bit of, like I said, losing momentum. I've gotta learn from that. I'm sure that soon enough I'll be able to go further in these slams.

Q. The name of the two dogs?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Lucky and Nika.

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