It seems that Denis Shapovalov's career is taking a turn for good, and he now also made a change to his coaching team.
The Canadian player showed his talent early on in his tennis career, and every year from 2019 until 2022, he finished the season in the Top 20 of the rankings, even though it always seemed like he was about to have that big and awaited breakthrough.
That never happened, and in recent years, Shapovalov struggled with injuries and bad for. As a result, he ended the 2023 season as the World No. 109 player on the ATP Tour, and this year was going similarly.
He was ranked 78 in the world before the 2024 Belgrade Open, but since he won the title in Belgrade, Shapovalov will move up to 56th position, which gives him many more options when it comes to signing up for tournaments.
It was great to see him make a step forward and win his first title since 2019, but the fact that he played in Belgrade probably wasn't a coincidence, as he will now have ties to that city.
Starting from 2025, Shapovalov will work with a former ATP player, Janko Tipsarevic, who was born in Belgrade, as his new coach. The Serbian player once reached the World No. 8 rank in the ATP Rankings, and he was Novak Djokovic's teammate at the 2010 Davis Cup, which Serbia won.
Speaking to Serbian publication SportKlub, the 25-year-old Canadian player explained that the two first hit the court together at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where the Canadian player reached the quarter-finals.
After that, they agreed to start working together. Shapovalov's preparation for the 2025 season should start in Dubai, and he will be joined by Tipsarevic there.
"I did a trial week with Janko in Basel. We will start working together in Dubai (on preparations), and we will see how it goes."
Speaking to SportKlub, the Canadian player also remembered some of the highlights of his new coach's career. In particular, he remembered watching Tipsarevic's match against Djokovic at the 2012 Canadian Open in Toronto, in which Djokovic won 6-4, 6-1.
"He was an amazing tennis player, I respect him a lot, I remember watching him as a child when he played with Novak in Toronto (2012) - it was a special match and a special memory for me."
Shapovalov called Tipsarevic 'a smart man' and said that the 40-year-old Serbian had already given him some good advice, which he will certainly want to use in the upcoming season.
"He's a smart man, I'm looking forward to that cooperation, he's already told me some good things, it's still early, but I hope we can achieve excellent cooperation."
With his triumph in Belgrade, Shapovalov might enter the 2025 season with peace of mind, knowing that over 25% of his points will remain next to his name until the last week of the season.
That should give him a great chance to build on this triumph and once again challenge for a seeding spot at Grand Slams. Currently, he's just over 20 places and around 500 points away from that.