I never thought I’d have a conversation about tennis strategy while simultaneously eyeing a cup of coffee, but there I was, sitting across from Denis Shapovalov in a café that looked like it could have doubled as a set for a low-budget indie film.
Denis, of course, looked like he’d just walked off a Wimbledon court. Tall, athletic, and impossibly calm for someone who can whack a tennis ball at 140 mph without breaking a sweat. His approach to life? Surprising. He didn’t speak in soundbites or clichés about tennis being a ‘mental game’ (though I’d bet that’s a major part of it). Instead, we talked about the silence before a big match. That moment when the crowd’s buzz fades into the background, and all you hear is your own breath and the slight whine of the racket strings as they stretch in anticipation.
I asked him, “What’s going through your head when you’re about to serve at match point?”
He gave me that look — the one that says, I’m really not sure how to explain this, then he leaned back and said, “It’s like stepping into the unknown. You just trust your training, your instinct, and maybe a little bit of luck.”
I had to pause for a second. The unknown. In my world, that’s where all the creative chaos lives.
We talked a lot about art, actually. Not tennis, but creativity. Denis is a bit of a visual thinker — when he’s not smashing serves, he’s thinking about light and composition. I asked him if he’d ever considered photography, to which he gave me a smirk that said, I think I’ll stick to the court. But it was clear we shared a similar drive to express, to perform, to create something larger than the moment.
In a way, meeting Denis was like meeting a fellow storyteller. Not with a camera or a paintbrush, but with a racket and a passion that crackles through the air.
I left that coffee with a strange sense of peace. As much as I admire the control and precision of tennis, I think what Denis does best is embrace the unknown and ride the chaos. We can all learn something from that, whether we’re behind the lens or holding a racket.
Now, back to editing my photos. I think I need to get a little more Shapovalov in my own work.
