Shapovalov about his default in Washington: “I am still upset that they didn’t admit their mistake, the decision was an insult to me”
The Canadian star says his disqualification in Washington killed all his momentum. Despite his successful appeal, he is still dissatisfied with the ATP. During UTS media day in Frankfurt he also weighed in on the doping case involving Jannik Sinner.
Denis Shapovalov, Montpellier 2024 – © Valentina Claret / Panoramic
After Wimbledon, Denis Shapovalov missed the rest of the 2023 season. The Canadian star was out for six months. During media day at UTS in Frankfurt on Thursday the 25-year-old explained that 10 months later he still needs time to get back.
“The knee is good now but I am still trying to get back to my top level. It takes time physically with the knee injury and the whole season before and while I was out I was not able to push 100 percent and even this year in the beginning I was not able to push 100 percent.“
Shapovalov repeatedly showed outstanding performances, reaching the third round at Wimbledon. There he lost to Ben Shelton in five sets. Recently he earned his 200th ATP Tour win. “I’m definitely in a different stage in my career. I have gone through a lot of things: A rise, a little bit of a fall, a serious injury. I’m getting more experienced.“
“I definitely think that my game is there but I struggle a bit physically to sustain my top level day-in, day-out. That is why I had a lot of results where I beat top players but then the next day I didn’t play good and have been tired,” Shapovalov said.
When Shapovalov then played well, he was disqualified in the quarter-finals in Washington. He lost his cool and threw his racquet onto the ground a couple of times and then got involved in a heated argument with a spectator. He was accused of swearing at one point and after a discussion with the chair umpire and ATP supervisor, he was defaulted. After that, Denis Shapovalov appealed successfully the ATP decision and the Canadian retained his ranking points and prize money.
Shapovalov: “To me what happened was wrong”
“I am not happy with the result. To me it was wrong what happened. It was in an important moment of my season because finally when I was playing good I had a good run and then this incident happened – it killed my momentum. You could see in Montreal there was a lot of other focus and I was not able my best tennis and it carried on to the US Open,” Shapovalov said in Frankfurt.
“It stayed in my head. I was very upset. Even though I got the 100 points back from the decision I lost all my price money. If you reduce the fine and the taxes they sent me a check for a $154. It was kind of an insult to me. The ATP didn’t admit they were wrong. You have players that did way, way worse than what I have done and there were not big punishments. I was unlucky and I am still upset that they did not admit their mistake. At that moment I did not want to play tennis. But after Davis Cup it was better,“ Shapovalov admitted.
During the interview in Frankfurt, it became clear that Shapovalov has matured into a seasoned professional who makes clear statements. The Canadian was also one of the professionals who spoke out about Jannik Sinner’s doping case. After the case came to light, he wrote on X, among other things: “Different rules for different players”.
At UTS he was asked about the WADA-appeal at CAS. “At this point it is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with Jannik Sinner personally. It is just that players are not treated the same way – in every case they handle it differently.
“Some players they have contaminated substances and get banned for years and with other players that is not the case.“ Shapovalov is not happy with the late WADA decision: “WADA should have stepped in right away. They should have given a notice after the first positive test as WADA. Why do they step in just now? Now it is torturing Sinner and he has to play in this circumstances. If the decisive people made the decision that he is cleared then that should be in guidelines with WADA. WADA should not be able months later to say: ‘No, now we want to overrule it’, if they had the information before. It is simply not clear for players.”
