Denis Shapovalov driven by ‘puppy power’ in 2025

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How ‘puppy power’ is driving Shapovalov’s 2025 surge

Canadian will chase his second title of season in Sunday’s Los Cabos final

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Denis Shapovalov in semi-final action on Friday in Los Cabos. By ATP Staff

When Denis Shapovalov lifted the biggest title of his career in February at the Dallas Open, he did so with a new ‘addition’ to his team. One that helped him relax and recuperate during each of his matches en route to the ATP 500 crown.

This was no sports psychologist or masseuse giving Shapovalov a different feeling off court in Texas, however. In fact, it was Yatzy, the puppy that the Canadian shares with his fiancée, WTA player Mirjam Bjorklund.

“The first tournament that he was at was Dallas, and I ended up winning it, so it was it was the perfect addition to have him,” Shapovalov told ATPTour.com last month. “I love coming home and he helps me completely switch off. When he is at a tournament, even in the mornings before matches, it makes me not think about the match. We go for a walk and feed him and stuff like that.

“It's nice. I wouldn't say it's as much as taking care of a kid, but it's kind of similar. It's definitely fun and he's such a good boy, a good dog. So it's nice to have him.”

On Sunday in Los Cabos, Shapovalov will aim to enter the ATP Tour winner’s circle for a second time in 2025 when he faces Aleksandar Kovacevic at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo. The No. 33 in the PIF ATP Rankings will this time have to get over the line without the off-court support of Yatzy, who is not in Mexico this week, but Shapovalov says he and Swedish star Bjorklund try and take him on Tour whenever they can.

“He's been travelling quite a lot, actually,” said Shapovalov. “He was meant to come to Stuttgart and Halle, but my fiancée actually had had a wedding during the weekend, so it just didn't work out with the logistics, and I can't take care of him on my own, unfortunately, during the tournament. So he stayed back, but he's been travelling quite a bit and he's a fun little guy.”

Shapovalov revealed that he and Bjorklund’s love for the dice game Yahtzee was the origin for their puppy’s name.

“It's one game that actually my fiancée [loves]," explained Shapovalov. "It's very big in Sweden, so she grew up playing it and then we've played a lot during the years. We enjoy playing it. We actually couldn't come up with a good name, and we were playing the game, and we were like, ‘Hey, what about Yatzy?’ At the beginning I wasn’t completely sure, then I was like, ‘Okay, cool. Yeah, it's different’.”

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