After turbulent times in 2023 and 2024, former World No. 10 Denis Shapovalov is climbing up the rankings once again. The 25-year-old spent most of 2024 outside of the Top 100 as he made his way back from a debilitating knee injury, but he hit his stride late last season and has carried his momentum into 2025. 

In February the former Wimbledon semifinalist reeled off an eight-match winning streak, winning his first ATP 500 title in Dallas, where he notched three Top-10 wins at the same event for the first time in his career. 

BNPParibasOpen.com talked to the Ontario, Canada native after his second round victory about his upcoming clash with two-time champion Carlos Alcaraz, his recent engagement and, of course – he is Canadian, after all – the great sport of ice hockey.

Big win today and it’s Carlos next. How exciting is it for you to get another opportunity to face him, especially since you’ve been thriving of late? 

It’s gonna be a tough match, but these are the types of matches I need to win if I want to have a chance to return to the Top 10. For sure it’s not an ideal draw for me but I’m happy with the win today (over Australia’s Adam Walton). It’s gonna be a great show, I would say. I’m definitely hoping that I can play some good tennis, and we’ll see how my game is able to match up against him in these conditions. Obviously he enjoys himself quite a bit here.

Now that you’ve had some time to reflect on your recent eight-match winning streak and exceptional title in Dallas, what is the prevailing takeaway? 

I haven’t been able to stop because after Acapulco I had a crazy flu. Coming straight from the match, I started shivering right after my match against [Alejandro Davidovich] Fokina. I’ve been dealing with that. It’s been non-stop for me. I was locked in my room for about four or five days. I got a little bit of practice in before my match. I’ve been dealing with some tough stuff. 

Will you be ready to go on Monday? 

I’m happy with the way that I was able to play today, and I’m feeling good now. But it definitely takes time to return physically and mentally after a flu. 

I have one more day to feel the courts now and get ready for Alcaraz. He’s a tremendous player. What I’ve been able to do over the last month or so, it’s great obviously, hopefully I can continue it but I don’t have many expectations after Acapulco for sure.

2023 was difficult with your knee injury. Six months away from the game and 10 months outside of the Top 100 in 2024. Were there doubts, and how rewarding is it to be climbing again? 

It’s definitely rewarding to be back where I am and to be pushing more. Like I keep saying, Top 10 is the goal, and I’m definitely not satisfied with all of my results. I want to keep going, and playing Alcaraz is another great test for me to see where the game is at and hopefully I can do well. 

It’s great to have some success, not just me but the whole team has put in a lot of work, and made a lot of sacrifices. Every result that happens, it’s not me but the efforts of my team. It’s nice to have that momentum going forward and I will try my best to keep it up throughout the season as much as I can. 

Has being engaged changed you? Has your perspective on life changed? (Shapovalov was engaged to Mirjam Bjorklund in 2023)

I don’t think it changed so much. I think our life has been pretty good off the court. I think everybody deals with a couple of things. I’ve had my battles off the court, and Mirjam has always been strong support for me. She’s definitely one of the people that I speak of when I say that it’s not just my effort, it’s her effort. And she’s done a lot for me. 

We recently got a puppy together so I think that has also been great for us, and great for me. A little perspective and thinking about things differently as well. I’m having to be a dog dad and I have my duties, taking him out, and it’s nice to worry about something else when you are not playing tennis. I think it’s important to disconnect. I’m not a guy that likes to be focused the whole time at the tournaments. It’s great to have a dog to help me disconnect, and to do that with Mirjam it’s been a lot of fun.

I know you are a hockey fan. What are your thoughts on the Four Nations tournament and that big showdown between Canada and the USA? 

It became so big. I think it’s so good for hockey, first of all, and I hear that the players are going to be in the upcoming Olympics [Milano Cortina Games in 2026], so Four Nations was a huge teaser for all the Canadians and the Americans, I’m sure. It’s great for the sport, and I think it’s way better than the all-star competition that they had. 

I know a lot of Canadians were watching. We needed that win. It was huge. We made some great saves in the overtime and to have McDavid take the pass from Marner to win that tournament was huge.