Canadian tennis player, Denis Shapovalov. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons via Creative Commons.
Tennis is like a physical chess match; with hundreds of people watching you, it requires strategic placement in every shot, and a great deal of mental toughness. In every match, you are all alone out there in your own thoughts without your coach’s help to lead you to victory.
That was why Denis Shapovalov beating Rafael Nadal at the age of 18 in the Rogers Cup 2017 was such a powerful moment. Watching him fall to the ground when he hit that forehand down-the-line winner on match point gave me goosebumps.
Before he was nicknamed “Shapo,” I remember competing in a few of the same tournaments as him. I watched him play, having no idea he would become a future tennis star. I thought he was a great player, but if you were to tell me at the time that he would beat Nadal years later, I’d call you a liar.
But there was something about Shapovalov that stood out from the rest of his Canadian competitors. Coincidently, he used to go to the same high school as me and I saw him walking down the hallways quite frequently. Every time I saw him, he wore his tennis bag with a confident look on his face, noticeably taking pride in his passion. Looking back, him doing that truly represented how much he loves the sport, and his determination to reach his goals.
As a tennis coach, the goal is to ignite a passion in players and push them to their highest potential. I want to inspire someone so much, that they get the urge to wear a tennis bag everywhere they go.