Canadians should remember the name Denis Shapovalov

TORONTO — If this week at the Rogers Cup is any indication, Canadians should remember the name: Denis Shapovalov.

Problem is it’s a little tough to say.

Exactly how many different ways has the promising teenage tennis star heard his name pronounced this week?

“Too many,” he said, smiling, before launching into a brief tutorial for the assembled media.

“I'll explain it. It's two parts,” said the 17-year-old Canadian, who pulled off a major upset on Monday night, beating world No. 19 Nick Kyrgios in three sets on Centre Court at the Aviva Centre.

“So first part is Shapo, so ‘hat’ in French,” he explained to reporters, who have been trying to master the pronunciation all week. “Then second part is Valov. So if you put it together, Shapo-valov. For everyone to get it right.”

For the record, he also wants to make it clear his first name is spelled with one N, not two.“It also makes me a little bit upset when people write my name with two Ns, ‘Dennis.’ I get that so much. It's just so upsetting every time.”

If Shapo-valov — say it slowly now — continues to win, however, there’s a good chance people will start to get his first and last name right, just as people eventually got the hang of MIL-osh Rau-nitch.

Since he won the boys’ singles title at Wimbledon earlier this month, Shapovalov’s profile has been rising on the tennis tour, especially at the Toronto tournament.

Originally added to the main draw as a wild card, Shapovalov has quickly become a draw himself after winning his first tour-level match on Monday. He’s featured alongside Milos Raonic and Novak Djokovic on the cover of the Day 5 program and will play his second consecutive match on the main stage Wednesday night when he takes on No. 40 Grigor Dimitrov on Centre Court.

"It's going to be a tough match for me. I don't think it's going to be any easier than when I played Nick. I'm going to prepare the same way, go out and hopefully play my best tennis," Shapovalov said.

Raonic's name has been circled on Wednesday as his second-round match against Yen-Hsun Lu headlines the first half of the night session. But perhaps sooner rather than later, it's Shapovalov's name that will be catching the eye of tennis fans in Canada, and beyond.