"It's an honour to go against Nadal" says Shapovalov after win over Zverev

Denis Shapovalov upset Alexander Zverev in straight sets and after the match, he broke down how he was able to do it.

Not many people expected Shapovalov to defeat Zverev in Melbourne especially in straight sets yet it happened. The Canadian has played well so far this season but in the earlier rounds, he showed a lot of nerves that were not really present today. He admitted surprise about winning in three sets post-match:

“It’s probably the one I least expected to finish in three. I’m very happy with my performance, definitely happy with where my game is at.”

Asked how he was able to do it, Shapovalov broke it down the way he saw it:

“I think off the ground I was playing really well, really feeling my shots off both wings. I played pretty smart today, it felt like things were going my way early on. I lost a little bit of momentum mid-way in the second set but fought well to come back and just kind of rolled with it after.”

Next up is Rafael Nadal and on facing Nadal, Shapovalov underlined it's an honour:

“It’s always an honour to go up against a guy like Rafa. It’s always going to be a battle against him. It’s going to be a tough one and I’m definitely going to enjoy it.”