THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 30, 2022

Denis Shapovalov

Press Conference

B. NAKASHIMA/D. Shapovalov

6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Your initial thoughts on today's match, if you would.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, first of all, congratulations to Brandon. I think he played an amazing match. He's a great player. Played some incredible tennis today.

He's definitely got a bright future ahead of him. Just very, very good tennis from him.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Just to follow up on that, could you be a little more specific about what it was that maybe he did particularly well or that gave you trouble today?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, I mean, he stayed extremely solid. Was very difficult to find weaknesses. Didn't give me much at all to, you know, to fish for.

Yeah, I mean, he was just playing a great match, serving well, returning well. Played really well from the back. Yeah, I mean, it was tough for me to kind of find a lot of solutions.

Q. You played really well in the second set after a very poor first set. You had Love-30 on his serve beginning of the third. Looked like if you broke him there you might have just rolled like you did the other night. Do you have regrets about that game at all?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, of course. It was difficult. I was seeing a lot of second serves at that point. For sure was a couple of loose games for me, this match, that definitely gave him more breathing room.

Like I said, credits to him. He played some great tennis after that.

Q. Is there a friendly rivalry, or maybe unfriendly rivalry, between Canada and America in the locker room or anything like that?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No, not really. I mean, there are so many good players. So, no, it's not something we focus on too much.

Of course in Davis Cup or something, yeah, maybe, Canada versus States, you want to beat them a little bit extra. Yeah, no, other than that, not really.

Q. Do you feel maybe you couldn't show your best tennis today?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, for sure. I was struggling physically today. The first match of course was a really long match. Strained my adductor during that match, so it was a little bit of a struggle to kind of recover from that. So definitely not 100%.

So not trying to take anything away from Brandon. I still had my chances. But he's played some great tennis, and he stays super solid. That's all I have to say about the match.

Q. Is it a disappointment, the draw, it looked like a pretty big chance to get to the second week?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, of course. Definitely were openings in the draw, but you have got to get there. So again, the only thing I can really focus on is the match today, and unfortunately I lost.

Unfortunately Brandon played better, and I just have to learn and get better, pick out the couple of things that I think I could have improved from today and, yeah, just go forward.

For sure it's nice when you have openings, but the objective is to beat the best players in the world. Doesn't really matter so much about having openings in the draw. You need to beat all the players. For me, yeah, it doesn't matter so much.

Q. What would be your schedule from now on for the rest of the summer?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No idea.

Q. No chance you will play Newport, is there?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No.

Q. Felix is playing there; I just wondered.

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I'm not playing.

Q. This injury, is it like a usual niggle or something you think can be more serious?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: We'll see. Definitely, it was getting better, but we will see. I mean, it's difficult to know. Was hoping for 100% physically, but it just wasn't today.

I hope it's nothing serious. Of course now I have some time to rest before the hard court season, so hopefully I will have some time. But, yeah, it's always tricky on grass. You have little slips that kind of wear on you physically, you know. Yeah, we'll reassess it tonight and see how it's doing, and hopefully we can get better soon.

Q. Were you on painkillers?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah.

Q. Left or right adductor?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Left. I think it's normal for athletes to be on painkillers (smiling).

Q. What is the first tournament for the hard season?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: I'm not sure yet.

Q. You will check your injury before?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, exactly. I'm going to check how the adductor is doing, plan with the team the steps ahead, and see. Yeah.

Q. Never done it before?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Done what?

Q. The adductor?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: No.