NATIONAL BANK OPEN

August 11, 2021

Denis Shapovalov

Press Conference

F. TIAFOE/D. Shapovalov

6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Wondering if you can walk us through the emotions after a match like that.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Well, not great. Obviously it's not an ideal performance, so, yeah, definitely not too happy.

Q. There were some really tight battles in there. Ninth game, feels like it went on forever. What was it that had Frances with the advantage today?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I mean, he's got a lot of matches in this condition under his belt already, and he was the better player today. It was obvious. I just felt uncomfortable out there. It was really windy.

The courts had some weird bounces. I didn't feel comfortable ever in the match. You could see he was comfortable. Like I said, he's had a couple matches under his belt. It's always tough to go up against guys like this.

Q. I was wondering how do you deal with the mental pressure in your matches? Are you training for this with your team, or are you just sort of learning a little bit about it from every match and just building on it?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I mean, a bit of both. I'm working with a psychologist, so he's helping me deal with a lot of things and just about learning about yourself at the same time.

You know, obviously I felt good going into this week, so, you know, I just have to kind of look back and learn from it and try not to make the same mistake. That's pretty much all you can do.

Q. When you're in a match like that where it's not going your way and you're struggling with the conditions and struggling with yourself, what can you do to turn it around? Anything? Hit harder, change things up, clear your brain out? What did you try to do as this was going on to somehow try to flip it?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I mean, there is obviously a lot of things you need to do. I tried to play with a return stance, tried to get into the points. Yeah, it wasn't working out too well for me.

The service, as well. I felt like my rhythm was off. The wind doesn't help. You know, as least when you're uncomfortable, if it's like still conditions, then at least, you know, you're kind of more patient and you feel like you can get into it. But when it's swirly like this, it's so tough. It's tough to ever feel good, you know.

I tried a lot of different things, but like I said, Frances was just way more comfortable today. He's had a lot of matches under his belt this week. You could just see it. You could see it was my first match. You could see he's been here and he's been playing, so that's pretty much all it was today.

Like I said, I'm practicing good. I'm playing well. It's a tough one. I'm going to learn from it and see what adjustments I can make better and just continue going forward.

Q. When you saw that Frances was going to be your opponent, as opposed to possibly Korda or Nishioka, what was your first thought then? Like, Oh, that's a tough one?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, it's a tough one, for sure, for sure. We have had a lot of tough matches. I do think Korda or Nishioka, I mean, the same thing, we have had tough matches.

It didn't change too much other than the fact I think I was actually a little bit more comfortable, because the last couple of times, I felt like I played Frances really well and I was able to beat him the last couple times we played.

I was, if anything, a little bit more confident, but, you know, like I said, he played well today. He played better, and he deserved to win.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about your team.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: What about them?

Q. What can you tell us? Any changes within your team? What coach are you working with at the moment?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No, there hasn't been any changes. It's been the same team.

Q. Are you going to Cincinnati next week?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yep. Yeah, I'll be there.