Denis Shapovalov Shows His Old Top 10 Form In Dallas Open Victory

by Randy Walker

@TennisPublisher

Denis Shapovalov earned the biggest title of his career by beating Casper Ruud 7-6(5), 6-3 to win the Dallas Open, a 500-level tournament on the ATP Tour.

The left-handed Canadian beat three top 10 players en route to the title, beating No. 4 Taylor Fritz in the second round, No. 9 Tommy Paul in the semifinals and No. 5 Ruud in the final.

“There’s a lot to be happy about,” Shapovalov said in his on-court interview after the final. “Of course it’s the biggest title of my career.”

Shapovalov, age 25, was ranked as high as No. 10 in the world in 2020 and was deemed a short favorite to win a major singles final after reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2021. Shapovalov’s progress, however, was slowed due to injuries and expectations. With the impressive win in Dallas, Shapovalov moves to No. 32 in the ATP singles rankings,  his highest position since September 2023. Shapovalov was forced to end his 2023 season after Wimbledon, where he suffered a knee injury and in 2024, he dropped to as low as No. 140 in the ATP Rankings.

 “It’s been very, very difficult. There were a lot of times where I didn’t know if I was going to step back onto the tennis court, if I was even going to come back at all,” Shapovalov said to the ATP early in the week in Dallas. “There were a lot of tough days, even when I started to play. It was difficult. Sometimes I had good days, sometimes I couldn’t even step with my leg because my knee was hurting.

“Everyone put in so much work and so much sacrifice to not even get me back to the level, but even just to get me back to the court. It’s incredible to be playing the way that I am. I’m definitely very happy to feel like my game is coming back.”

Shapovalov has earned all three of his tour-level titles on indoor hard courts, with his previous two coming in Stockholm (2019) and Belgrade (2024).