Canadian Open star scared and ‘in a lot of pain’ after forced retirement | Tennis | Sport

One Canadian Open star was left ‘in a lot of pain’ after being forced to retire from the opening round of the ATP 1000 event. It’s the first of two tournaments of its kind in the run-up to the US Open, which gets underway at Flushing Meadows later this month.

But for Denis Shapovalov, it’s too early to be thinking about participation in the final Grand Slam of the year, given the Canadian was forced to drop out of his clash against Zachary Svajda midway through. Shapovalov had taken the opening set with a single breakpoint, but things quickly started to unravel for the home crowd favourite.

Shapovalov, who reached the final of the Los Cabos ATP 250 event in Mexico last week, had entered the Canadian Open with an ankle injury. The world No.43 revealed he had considered pulling out of this week’s tournament, but given the fact it was his home open, decided to push through.

However, that might’ve proved the wrong decision, given Shapovalov’s hopes of competing at the US Open might’ve taken a hefty blow. Speaking after his retirement, he remarked: “I’ve been dealing with this since the finals of Los Cabos. So, yeah, I’ve been in a lot of pain.”

While on his preparations for the Canadian Open, he added: “I felt like I was hitting really well yesterday and this morning in the warmup, but, yeah, it was a question mark. Even today, during the warmup, we weren’t sure [whether to pull out].

“I was trying to feel how the ankle was feeling. Like I said, I wanted to make an effort for the fans here. It’s a very special tournament for me. So I wanted to go out there and give it my best effort. Yeah, and unfortunately, it was just tough. The body just got worse and the body kept telling me no.”

It could have a knock-on effect, and Shapovalov admitted he is scared that his decision to play in his homeland could impact the next couple of tournaments. Despite that, he’s still earmarked the Cincinnati Open – which starts next week – as a potential tournament to play in.

Asked if he’s worried about the repercussions, Canada’s No.1 replied: “Definitely with how bad the body got today, it’s probably not great that I stepped on court today. Yeah. But, again, it was a call that I made, you know, with all the feedback that I was given from my team, from everyone. I decided I wanted to make an effort, see how the ankle is.

“We’ll have to reassess. Now I need to take time off, heal everything that felt bad today, and hopefully I’ll be ready for Cincy. If not, then, yeah, we have to assess it then.”