Interactive Forum August 2021: Denis Shapovalov Backhand

[arturohernandez]

I like your point about pushing people back. This type of one hander in my opinion has a similar mindset to the typical two hander game style. These aren’t players looking to move forward and they don’t slice unless they need to just like the two handers do. I think the weakness here is if your desired contact point is around chest high and your most comfortable first step with your backhand is diagonally backwards these players will have a more difficult time playing closer to the baseline. The two handers with the similar mindset of not necessarily looking to move forward to the net can play this game better with less risk in diagonaling back or playing up closer to the baseline.
if your looking to move backwards and get one handers chest high your court position doesn’t make coming to the net very attractive. Having a slice like Roger is about mixing it in and getting weight forward for that knifing attacking slice…again hard to do if you’re always looking to move back first. These guys slice like the two handers…only when they need to, not for variety.
I’m open to wherever tennis goes with the future of the one hander, but I like Roger’s mindset of the all court game playing closer to the baseline. It’s always going to be tough but the one hander playing closer to the baseline establish that they can change the direction and receive a relatively deep ball and play it down the line without making it look like they are risking to much is what the GOAT would look like to me. Then they have access to all the variety of the one hander as well. If Roger could have done that he’d have had 30 Slams!

If he had used a 97 inch racket in 2009, he would have won a few more. I am not sure it would be 30 but clearly he was being pushed around by players using 100 square inches. All that changed when he switched to the larger racket head.

He changed when he was much older. Imagine if he had actually used the larger racket earlier in his career, around 30.

But back to Shapo. I am wondering how his backhand will change as he incorporates more slice and learns to volley better. To me he HAS to learn to do this in order to maximize his attacking style. Otherwise, he risks not making it to the next step IMHO.

Thiem seemed to start using more slice. Maybe Shapo will follow to try and mix things up and throw his opponents off. He has the king of backhands as a coach. Yhouzhny can hit a borg-like one hander where he lets go of his left hand. A regular one hander and a slice.

https://youtu.be/_0BQyyWxiqU

He should be able to help Denis work on his backhand flexibility and variety.

[don_budge]

Denis Shapovalov Backhand

It’s been over 5 years since Denis Shapovalov burst on the scene. Although he lost in the Wimby semi-final to Novak Djokovic, he looked like he belonged there and was in general trading shots on equal footing. So in the next three months in the Forum, we’ll take a close look at his game, starting with his amazing one-handed backhand.

Check his grip, the variety of stances, the relationship between his forward extension and the deceleration phase—and the jump.

We looked at him before in 2016 though with much less footage. Click Here to see if you see differences or evolution!

I find Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov just as annoying in high definition as I do in any other format. Trust me...that stroke is all flash and not enough substance. The grip? It's Wawrinka like...nothing inherently wrong with that. But he cannot or doesn't want to transition to a grip that would enable him to slice the ball effectively.

Yes...the variety of stances. Not a single one of them worthy of a Wawrinkaesque evaluation. This guy looks like a clod in slo-motion compared to Roger Federer. Granted...that is an unfair comparison but it also explains why he has such spotty results. A good win here and there...mixed in with many dismal defeats to lesser ranked players not to mention players with less "talent". I am also starting to question the talent of Shapovalov. I don't find him nearly as impressive as I once wanted him to be. He is not going to be a player who can be counted on day in and day out to deliver the goods. He is going to give a flashy performance here and there. That about sums up the backhand as well...all flash. Denis cannot be bothered to get himself set twice in a row the same way to get himself set to hit the ball. There is too much left to chance and changing structures. This isn't a diversity contest. Homogenous stances. The less diversity the better. The more times approaching the ball the same way the better chance of achieving a higher level of consistency. As it is...he is harebrained. Willy nilly.

Denis is a very disorganised tennis player. It is reflected in his sloppy appearance with the backwards baseball cap and the absolutely meaningless act of bouncing the ball between his legs in his preserve routine. It is reflected in his tactical approach to the game. Or his lack of it. Somehow he gets quoted all of the time talking about himself as a very dangerous player. Someone who can beat anyone in the world. He isn't clear in who he is realistically. He is mistaking bombast with confidence. This is reflected throughout his entire tennis game. Most certainly in the backhand. This business of jumping in the air is rather ludicrous. I am certainly not buying it. I think he is a hot dog. A first rate hot dog. He is going to have to emerge from that personna to ever be something more meaningful...more stable. You see the lack of stability in his backhand follow through. Most of the time he is falling off balance and not in perfect balance like a ballet dancer. Ala Federer.

The most provocative thing about Denis at the present is how big of an underachiever he is. The serve and the forehand are huge at times...but somehow they seem to become less steady and less deadly as certain matches progress. The flash in his game is not nearly enough to compete with the highest level of steady in the men's game. I love the comparison and how much was made of his match with Novak Djokovic. As if he had arrived because he played stroke for stroke with one of the steadiest of champions ever. I don't really believe that he came that close. Djokovic had him measured up and had him fit like a glove. He never felt threatened. He basically kicked Denis in the ass for three straight sets. Denis handed him the first set in the tie-break with his hare-brained play. It may have been a different story should he have won that set...but I sincerely doubt it.

The nickname that I chose for Denis "The Menace" Shapovalov is a perfect one at that. He is a bit too goofy to be taken ultimately seriously. Just last week in his hometown of Toronto, he lost to Francis Tiafoe who subsequently lost to straight sets to Gael Monfils in the next round, who subsequently lost to John Isner in the next round straight sets who subsequently lost in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev. Get the picture. The food chain. He not only lost to Tiafoe...he lost to him convincingly 6-1, 6-4. This was after his announcement to the world that he was an ever and present dangerous opponent. Some think that he may have gained in confidence with his Wimbledon performance, which to me was hardly earth shaking. But I think that it only contributed to his inflated opinion of his own game. He doesn't have a realistic view of where it is he exists on the food chain of the ATP tour. He had a couple of big wins...but he hasn't been able to sustain anything. Except his stupid preserve routine of bouncing the ball between his legs.

[stroke]

That loss in Toronto to Tiafoe was not good. And as you point out DB, it came after another proclamation about how good he feels about his game. He no doubt has a wonderful one handed backhand, but he seems to swing too big at it all the time. There is no 2nd gear on that shot. Of the strong eastern grip one handed backhands, Gasquet's is the best to me.