SHAPOVALOV, TESSA (nee Tessa ????)
Soviet Union/Ukraine
Born 14 March 1969 in Lviv, Ukraine (then part of the Soviet Union)
Married Viktor Shapovalov circa 1990
[Active 1980s to 1990s]
Tessa Shapovalova is the mother of Canadian tennis star Denis Shapovalov; at present her maiden name is unknown. She is originally from the city of Lviv in western Ukraine. Tessa was once a tournament tennis player herself and notably reached the women’s singles final at a Soviet Championship tournament in 1990, just as the old communist system was collapsing. Elena Makarova beat her in the final match, 6-3, 6-1.
In the early 1990s, Tessa Shapovalova and her husband Viktor, a businessman, moved to Israel. On 23 March 1992, she reached a career high WTA singles ranking of no. 445; her highest doubles ranking was no. 301. Her old WTA profile can be viewed online, here:
https://www.wtatennis.com/players/pl...valova#ranking
Tessa’s two children were both born in Tel Aviv, Evgeniy in 1996 and Denis on 15 April 1999. Soon after Denis’s birth the family emigrated from Israel to Canada, eventually settling in the city of Richmond Hill, part of the Greater Toronto area. Having worked as a tennis coach in Israel, Tessa found work in the same area soon after arriving in Canada and subsequently obtained the Level 3 Canadian Coach Certification. In an interview she and Denis gave to the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Daily Mail in the summer of 2016, just after Denis had won the boys’ singles title at Wimbledon, Tessa spoke about the family’s early years in Canada and Denis’s junior years:
“We liked Tel Aviv, but I felt it was dangerous there for the boys, so we left for Canada in 1999 right after Denis was born,” said Mrs Shapovalova, who sports the same lean build and blond hair as her son. “We came from Israel to Toronto with two little ones, and we didn’t know anyone. I barely spoke English; Viktor not at all. Two weeks after we arrived, I got a job teaching tennis.” She began at the Richmond Hill Country Club and stayed about 10 years, also introducing her sons to the sport there.
“As soon as Denis grabbed a racquet at age 5, I couldn’t move him off the court – he played with big kids, little kids, anyone,” said Mrs Shapovalova. “I used to say to my older son at the end of the day, ‘Want to hit with me?’ and often he was tired after a long day and didn’t want to. But Denis would say, ‘Me, I will, mom.’”
The mother encouraged him to play a style that she felt suited his athleticism and assertiveness. She taught him to play aggressive, go to the net and make big shots. “Opponents were lobbing balls over his head when he was a young boy going to the net, and I always told him, ‘Denis, one day you will grow and you’re going to get those,’” said Mrs Shapovalova. “We never based it on results or winning back then. We asked him to play real tennis. We knew he would be tall and strong some day and the style would fit his personality.”
At age 8, the strong youngster started separating his hands to hit one-handed backhand shots. “A lot of people told me, ‘You shouldn't let him do that; it’s too difficult at this age,’” recalled Mrs Shapovalova. “I said, ‘Well, he has this naturally, so let him do what he wants.’” The boy was fascinated with his mom’s collection of trophies and medals and fixated on earning his own hardware. She loaned him one of hers, telling him he could keep it only until he won one of his own. They stuck to their convictions about playing his game, regardless of results. Eventually the trophies came. […]
The costs of his training and equipment were escalating, and they tried to get his name out there, hoping maybe a sponsor could help. They made video highlight reels to post on YouTube. The clips showed the 8-year-old scampering around the court in baggy shorts with a Federer-style bandanna tied around his blond locks, banging back smooth-looking forehand shots and one-handed backhands with his mother on the other side of the net.
Tennis Canada invited him to do some training in Toronto in one of its junior national programs, so he did that, too, from ages 9 to 11. “They had more of a group approach there, and my vision was a little different,” said Mrs Shapovalova. “I'm a coach and I felt he needed more individual work instead.” As he improved, it became difficult to get her son enough court time at the Richmond Hill club, so she left her coaching job there. Eventually the family decided to open its own academy, called TessaTennis, so he could train any time.
The small indoor facility opened in 2012 in an industrial neighbourhood in the northern Toronto suburb of Vaughan, and teaches kids in small-group settings. Viktor manages and operates the school, while Tessa is the head coach. “I didn’t think sending him off to another academy was the best way,” said Mrs Shapovalova. “We wanted to keep Denis in a good environment at home and in regular school.”
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As of August 2019, Tessa Shapovalova still occasionally travels to see her now 20-year-old son Denis take part in tennis tournaments, particularly in North America; he has had some very good results in both singles and doubles events on the ATP tour, but has yet to win a title. Tessa herself continues to play an active role in the running of the TessaTennis Academy. For more on this, see here:
TessaTennis Junior Program
[Thanks to Jimbo and Newmark for this information]
