	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ROGERS CUP

August 9, 2018

Denis Shapovalov

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

R. HAASE/D. Shapovalov

7-5, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Things were going well for you earlier this week, but what happened tonight? It seems after the first set that you lost your game.
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, Robin did a good job today of really playing with my game, and he played me really smart today. So unfortunately I had a bit of an off day and those things happen.

But, yeah, it's been a really good week. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I really feel like I've found my game from, you know, from a couple months ago.

And I'm playing really well, you know, obviously except for today.

Q. What do you mean when you say he played you smart? What did he do?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: He was changing the pace a lot, you know, and playing me -- playing me pretty slow, actually. And it was pretty windy, so it was tough for me to get behind the balls and play aggressive today. So he played smart in that way.

But, yeah, he's got a lot of experience. He's been playing unbelievable. He likes these courts. He made semis last year. So he's playing very confident.

So huge credits to him. And, yeah, hopefully he can go far.

Q. Other than your opponent playing well, did you feel any pressure to perform?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No. No, I didn't feel any pressure whatsoever. I was excited to come back on center court. Anytime I get to play under a big court, it's always an honor for me.

So, yeah, I was really happy and excited to be out there. Just didn't turn out as I wanted it to today.

Q. If somebody else kind of looks at this match with a blueprint and tries to play the same way, take the pace off the ball, kind of junk you up a bit, what will you do differently next time to make sure this doesn't happen?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Like I said, it wasn't just that. Obviously I wasn't having a good day. I think if I have a better day and I'm feeling it, you know, I'll obviously be making a lot more shots and taking it to the guy.

So it was definitely a combination of both. You know, he saw that I was missing quite a bit today so that he kept doing that. So I don't think it's going to be an issue for the next time.

Q. Looking back a year ago, that's when you burst in. It was a crazy year. Can you describe how it was? I mean, coming back to the Rogers Cup?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: For sure. First of all, I just want to thank the fans for coming out tonight and this week. They've been a huge part of my success before and a huge part of my success this week.

Even today with the crowd support, it was helping me kind of trying to stay in the match and keep fighting. So I really appreciate that.

And obviously, you know, I'm sorry I kind of disappointed them today with a little bit of -- you know, not poor play, but I wasn't able to perform my best.

But I'll be stronger next year and, you know, I'm really excited to be back in Montreal next year and be back here in two years.

Q. You seemed to struggle on your serve a little bit today. Do you feel that it kind of affected the other aspects of your game?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I don't know. Nothing really felt, you know, clean for me today. And I think it was also pretty windy out there. So I wasn't adjusting my feet well today. It was a combination of things.

Obviously I didn't serve extremely well today. But, you know, I've been serving really well this week, so I'm happy with how it is again.

It's one bad day. And it's a sport, so things like this happen all the time. I've just got to learn from it and keep moving forward.

Q. We're kind of talking about what you didn't do well today. What do you think that you did do well today and what are you going to take into the upcoming future for that?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: It's tough. I'm such a professional, it's tough to take out good things right now out of the match.

But I think for the most part I stayed pretty cool in my head. Even though things weren't going my way, you know, I still kept fighting, still tried to find a game plan. So that's huge.

You know, sometimes in these situations I might just have a meltdown and just get too frustrated with myself, but today I was still trying to find a way throughout the last point. And I still had chances, even though I wasn't able to convert.

But, yeah, I'm happy with that. But then again, like I said, it's tough to pick out a lot of things.

Q. I was just wondering if health-wise you're having any issues?
DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No. I feel great. Luckily I'm still young. I'm able to recover quickly from my matches.

And, yeah, I feel good and ready to go.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297