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Denis Shapovalov applauded the South Korean team for their historic win against soccer giants Portugal at the FIFA World Cup on Friday. The reigning Davis Cup winner with Canada recognized that it was a "big win" for the Asian nation as they beat one of the favorites in the group stage to advance to the knockout stages.
The 23-year-old himself seems to be a fan of the South Korean national team, once sporting their jersey during a press conference at the Korea Open tennis tournament. The Canadian was reminded of it by a fan who reminisced about the same in light of South Korea's World Cup win against Portugal.
"Since SKorea made it to the 16, I remembered that Denis Shapovalov appearing in the Korean national team uniform at the Korea Open. Your choice was perfect," read an Instagram user's story.
Reacting to the same, Shapovalov wrote,
"Big win for South Korea today."
Shapovalov reached the final of the Korea Open in Seoul in October, falling short at the final hurdle against Yoshihito Nishioka. It was the first of three finals this year for the Canadian, whose season picked up some lost momentum that week. The other two finals came in Vienna and the Davis Cup.
He was part of a historic victory last week at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. The Canadian team comprising himself, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Vasek Pospisil, Alexis Galarneau, and Gabriel Diallo won the country's maiden Davis Cup title, beating Australia in the final. The flamboyant southpaw won his singles match in the final, beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-2, 6-4. The Canadian men's team also won the ATP Cup in January.
Denis Shapovalov could start 2023 season at Adelaide International
The Canadian team will not get to emulate their success at the start of the 2022 season in 2023 as they have not qualified for the newly-launched United Cup in Australia, a joint ATP-WTA mixed team event that replaces the ATP Cup.
Denis Shapovalov could thus start his season at the Adelaide International in the first week of January. While the ATP Maharashtra Open in Pune, India, will also be held that week, the likes of Shapovalov might prefer to play in Adelaide to prepare for the Australian Open.
He could even compete in the ASB Classic in Auckland, to be held the week before the January 16th start of the Australian Open. Shapovalov reached the 2022 Australian Open quarterfinals, losing to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.
