Competing against some of the top players in the world helped Denis Shapovalov identify some aspects of his game he needs to improve on.
The 17-year-old junior Grand Slam champion, who received a wild card into his hometown event in Toronto, defeated Nick Kyrgios in the first round before falling to Grigor Dimitrov in the second.
"I think I really need to improve my serve,” he said. “I thought I had a good serve until I played Kyrgios, who was just bombing aces past me. Same with Dimitrov. He was blocking [it] back like nothing when I was putting it in. I think my percentage wasn't very high today."
He also wants to improve his mental game.
“[I could use] just a little more experience,” he said. “You know, I felt like Grigor really figured me out after … You could see he really thinks during the match. He changes a lot of things up."
Shapovalov didn't find himself doing that during the match.
"I feel like I was keeping my game the same,” he said. “I didn't really have a chance today to try to figure him out. You know, see where he's not feeling good. I mean, that comes with experience. Just playing more matches.”
The Canadian will move into the Top 300 after his second-round run at the Rogers Cup.