EDMONTON LATEST VENUE FOR SHAPOVALOV’S WILD ASCENT
Canadian teen will play in prime time during Davis Cup series with India
It’s prime time for Denis Shapovalov. Maybe that ought to be his nickname. Prime time.
Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau made Shapovalov Canada No. 1 for the Davis Cup tie against India that opens in Edmonton on Friday and when the official draw was done, much to the delight of organizers and Sportsnet, it put the charismatic Canadian tennis shooting star in Position A for delivering numbers.
The draw left Canada’s rocketing 18-year-old phenom versus India No. 2 Yuki Bhambri on the early evening match Friday in the Northlands Coliseum.
That will likely be about 6 p.m. local time and 8 p.m. Eastern — smack dab in prime time for Sportsnet, which is televising the event.
Shapovalov has produced exceptional TV numbers for the network in the last six weeks of his 18-3 run that included victory over Rafael Nadal at the Rogers Cup in Montreal and, after beating eighth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round of the main draw, becoming the youngest player since 1989 get to the fourth round at a U.S. Open.
The draw also put Shapovalov up against India No. 1 Ramkumar Ramanathan in the Sunday afternoon opening singles match, the fourth of the best-of-five series, which is excellent for both TV and tickets as well. Canada’s Brayden Schnur will square off against Ramanathan in Friday’s opening singles match. Laurendeau decided to team Vasek Pospisil, as usual in these proceedings, with Canadian doubles legend Daniel Nestor, who is making his 51st Davis Cup appearance at age 45, in Saturday’s doubles match.
The tennis world is waiting to see if a week off the roller-coaster will affect Shapovalov and if transitioning from playing for himself to playing for his country will have an effect for the young man who imploded at the last Davis Cup tie in February in Ottawa.
The non-tennis crowd wants to see if his celebrity has lost any flavour on the bedpost overnight.
India isn’t making any secret of the idea they’re hoping the difference in playing for yourself and playing for your country will put the brakes on Shapovalov’s sensational streak since losing at Wimbledon.
But there’s the other thing to consider here.
After a scintillating six weeks of play, he’s taken a bit of a break here now.
He’s been forced to take his foot off the gas. Will he be able to just pick up and continue the roll?
“He had to rest his body and his mind,” said Laurendeau, who is also Shapovalov’s personal coach. “Even before Montreal, he played — and won — in Gatineau, (Que.) That’s a lot of tennis for a young guy who is still growing. Rest was first and foremost for him to get ready for this and the rest of the fall on the tour events on the calendar.
“He hasn’t had a long break. He’s played a lot of tennis this year. He’s our No. 1 guy. He has great momentum. He’s feeling well and playing well.
“He’s coming in really fresh. Obviously, it’s recent memory, so he doesn’t have to dig too far back to find his feeling coming off a great summer run.”
Laurendeau says there’s no questioning Shapovalov’s mental state going into this.
“He’s super excited to contribute and to play for Canada. He wears ‘Canada’ with unbelievable pride and passion. He can’t wait to get on the court.”
With Shapovalov in prime time here combined with the announcement Wednesday that the Coliseum will close its doors Jan. 1, it begs the question if there will be an attendance spike in Edmonton.
The record attendance for a Canadian Davis Cup is 21,482 from Canada-Great Britain in Ottawa in February, with the previous best 17,805 from CanadaSpain in 2014 in Vancouver.
The pre-sale, 24 hours before the afternoon opening ceremonies and walk-up sales, was 3,527 for Friday, 3,466 for Saturday and 3,881 for Sunday.
“I’ve been working to get this event here for four or five years,” said Gavin Ziv, vice-president of professional events for Tennis Canada and tournament director of the Davis Cup. “With hockey in Canada, it’s so difficult because Davis Cup needs nine days to put the surface in and for the players to practise on the court. With no hockey in this building, it became a great opportunity for us.”
Tennis Canada says they are on target to reach expectations.
“We scaled it for about 6,000, so we’re happy going into this with about 4,000 people per day,” said Ziv.
As for the record with Northlands closing and Shapovalov prime-time factors?
“We hope to get there.”