Denis Shapovalov's emergence this season was recognised on Saturday in an on-court ceremony at The O2, with the Canadian teenager receiving two 2017 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon. Shapovalov was honoured as the Most Improved Player and the ATP Star of Tomorrow presented by Emirates at the end of David Goffin's semi-final victory over Roger Federer at the Nitto ATP Finals, accepting a fist bump from the Belgian as he walked out of the corridor to be applauded by fans.
“This is incredible – first of all to be here and to win these awards,” said Shapovalov during the ceremony. “I have worked so hard this year and I hope to be among the Top 8 one year. I will attempt to do everything I can to be here, it would be a dream come true. I definitely want to win an ATP World Tour title next year and finish in the Top 25, if everything goes well.”
The 18-year-old started the year at No. 250 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and the teenager moved into the Top 50 last month. Currently at No. 51, last week he competed at the inaugural 21-and-under Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan.
Shapovalov beat Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal in August at the Coupe Rogers in Montreal on the way to becoming the youngest ever semi-finalist at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000, a run he says has "changed my whole life". "That really pushed me up the Emirates ATP Rankings and gave me confidence that I can play against these guys and that I belong there."
As a qualifier, he also made the US Open fourth round, where he was the youngest player at that stage of a Grand Slam championship since Russian Marat Safin at 1998 Roland Garros. As the youngest player in the Top 100 of the Emirates ATP Rankings - as of 6 November - Shapovalov won the ATP Star of Tomorrow Award presented by Emirates.
Shapovalov's emergence this year has also been recognised by his peers, who voted him the Most Improved Player, above the other nominees: Germany's Alexander Zverev, Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta and Russia's Andrey Rublev. Shapovalov and Federer were the only players to win multiple awards in the 2017 ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon.
"I'm very proud to win the Most Improved Player Award," said Shapovalov. "There are many players who deserve this Award so first of all to be nominated was huge and so to actually win it was unbelievable. Me and my team have put in countless hours of work and dedication this year so it means a lot for me to achieve it."