A Roland-Garros,
Does his immoderate love of Nutella explain his disappointing performance in recent months? The spectacular left-hander Denis Shapovalov landed Porte d’Auteuil with a sad record in 2023. Since his match lost in five sets against Hubert Hurkacz at the Australian Open, the former member of the Top 10 (in 2020), fell back to the 32nd place in the world, had lost eight of his last eleven games. It picks up a bit of color at Roland-Garros. Benefiting from a good table at the start of the fortnight, the seeded 26, two days after needing five rounds to eliminate the American Brandon Nakashima, was a little more expeditious against the Italian Matteo Arnaldi, 106th World Championship which he beat in four sets of 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, in 2 hours 55 minutes. In the 3rd round the march will be much higher against Carlos Alcaraz, the favorite of the tournament. Will Denis Shapovalov change his ways to prepare for this clash? Not sure. After qualifying, he came back to a press conference on Wednesday about his funny habit: that of stuffing his croissant with Nutella. According to him, this “ritual” has no real influence on the quality of his matches. “I love Nutella too much to give it up. Maybe I’ll think about it a bit more if I go far. I think I had some great wins with some Nutella, and some junk food the night before! I don’t think it has too much of an impact.” Nutritionists probably have a different opinion.
And the Canadian admits that he had a hard time resisting his indulgences: “I try to eat healthier, but from time to time, if I walk down the street with my girlfriend, we miss a glacier, maybe I’ll focus on it. But a chocolate croissant, maybe I’ll buy some. I try to stay healthy and eat well. But also, listen to my body if I have desires, if I feel like I need something.
