Is Denis Shapovalov back to his best? It certainly looks that way as the mercurial Canadian player lifted the Belgrade Open 2024 trophy on Saturday. The passionate Belgrade crowd gave him all the support he was looking for. Surprisingly, Shapovalov, who is known as one of the bad boys of the sport, attributed the love he received from the crowd to Novak Djokovic.
After Shapovalov defeated Jiri Lehecka in the semifinals, the former World No.10 said that Serbian fans liked him more because he lost a lot of matches to their hero, Djokovic.
Denis Shapovalov plays incredible tennis in Belgrade to steamroll Jiri Lehecka 6-2, 6-1 in 53 minutes
After the match:
“I didn’t know I had so many Serbian fans, I think it’s because I lose to Novak every time” pic.twitter.com/06qpygEmRG
— Stephen Boughton (@theslicestephen) November 8, 2024
In fact, it was a sweet coincidence that the man to present Shapovalov, who won his first title in five years, with the trophy was none other than Djokovic. The Serb had come to watch some of the matches in his birth city, where he is spending more time nowadays.
Guess who is giving the trophy to Denis Shapovalov in Belgrade?
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) November 9, 2024
It couldn’t have been any better than to be treated by a jovial Djokovic in Belgrade, as the Serb has always believed in his abilities.
