Denis Shapovalov Hires New Coach Right Before French Open 2022 in a Surprise Move

Denis Shapovalov may be only 23, but the Canadian tennis star is already among the elite group in men’s tennis. He has been a consistent performer on the ATP Tour for quite a few years now. Last season, he made it to the semifinals at Wimbledon, losing against the eventual champion, Novak Djokovic, in the last-four clash. En route to his memorable run at the tournament, he defeated many top players like Andy Murray and Roberto Bautista Agut.

Recently, Shapovalov made some changes to his coaching team. Further, this move comes just ahead of the French Open 2022.

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Peter Polansky becomes the new head coach of Denis Shapovalov

The former Canadian professional tennis player, Peter Polansky, has joined Shapovalov’s team as the new head coach. Shapovalov’s former coach, Jamie Delgado, is no longer working with them.

Shapovalov had only started working with Delgado in December, last year. This came after the latter ended his long-term partnership with Andy Murray. Additionally, Shapovalov had ended his partnership with coach Mikhail Youzhny at that time.

Further, talking about Delgado during the tournament in Dubai, Shapovalov had said, “The couple of things we have been able to work on in the last couple of months have definitely improved my game and been a huge impact on it. He is doing a great job of just connecting the whole team together. Everyone is really on the same page, I think that is so important for a team to just know everyone knows what is going on and everyone is working together. Yes he has done a great job so far.”

How has Shapovalov performed under Delgado?

Shapovalov’s partnership with Delgado began brightly, with the former playing a key role in Canada’s ATP Cup victory. Subsequently, Shapovalov made it to the quarterfinals of the Australian Open before going down fighting against Rafael Nadal in a five-setter thriller.

Since then, he had a mixed run of form with early losses in Rotterdam and Doha. Further, he made it to the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. Shapovalov had a third-round and a second-round exit in Indian Wells and Miami, respectively. Beginning his clay-court season in Madrid, he had a second-round exit at the Madrid Open. Subsequently, in the recently concluded Italian Open, Shapovalov lost in the quarterfinals against Casper Ruud.

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Can Shapovalov dig deep at the French Open this year? Let us know your views in the comments below.