'To Be Pain-Free': Shapovalov Admits To Not Having Performance Goal At Roland Garros

| by Zlatko Vodenicharov

Denis Shapovalov is trying to get back to winning ways after coming back from a knee injury at the 2023 Roland Garros.

Earlier during the clay-court season, the 24-year-old was forced to withdraw from the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters, and after playing in Madrid, Shapovalov pulled out also from the 2023 Italian Open in Rome as the problem persisted.

One month later, he returned to competitive action on the ATP Tour, and his comeback was marked by a hard-fought five-set win over Brandon Nakashima in the first round of the 2023 Roland Garros, triumphing 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3 in three hours and 37 minutes.

Despite a solid win, the 26th seed refused to take on any pressure and expectations, as his main goal for the clay-court Grand Slam in the French capital is to be without any pain.

"I think every tournament, it's not like -- I don't really go into it thinking, Oh, I have won a lot, or I haven't won a lot. Every tournament for me is different, and it's new. In general, I haven't had like the best success in Roland Garros. So for me, this week is, more than anything, it's to see how my knee is, to test it out, and to try to play pain-free. Everything else is a bonus."

Shapovalov's goal is clear and it's maybe also because already in the third round of the competition, he can meet the top seed Carlos Alcaraz who is playing in incredible form.

"So for me it was just fun to be out there. I was very happy that I was able to get the first set and then the second set and then obviously the fifth set, you know. Yeah, everything is a bonus for me. The most important thing right now is to play pain-free. For me, there is not really a goal of performance right now."

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Since the Canadian clearly stated that his main goal is to be pain-free and return to playing tennis that he enjoys the most, it was quite logical that the next question quizzed Shapovalov about whether he feels pain-free.

"We'll see. I mean, the problem is it's normally the day after that's the problem. I think this is the best possible test for it. It's been feeling good in the practices, much better. I have not been getting sore. Yeah, Madrid was brutal. I was getting more and more sore during doubles, which is not ideal."

Shapovalov's answer clearly indicated that while he wasn't pain-free in the given moment, he may be very close to that as he expressed his desire to be without any pain already the next morning after his first-round match.

"You know, you're moving much more in singles. So that was the decision behind that. I obviously have been doing a lot of work to just try and make it as good as possible. Hopefully, you know, tomorrow I wake up pain-free and, yeah, we'll go from there."

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