In a day’s time, Denis Shapovalov would play in his first-ever Grand Slam semifinal at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships. The Canadian has had a scintillating run so far, having ousted Andy Murray, Roberto Bautista Agut, and Karen Khachanov to reach the penultimate stage.

However, now he comes across the toughest challenge of his career as faces the 19-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, for a place in the final.

Shapovalov, who has lost in all his six career matches against Djokovic, has a monumental task at hand. But his spectacular semifinal performance against Khachanov, a match in which he hammered a whopping 17 aces, brightens his chances against the defending champion.

Let us look at the way Shapovalov could topple Djokovic on Friday:

Service Games

Up against Djokovic, the greatest returner in the game, maintaining a high percentage of first serves is of utmost importance for Shapovalov.

Having fired 15 plus aces in each of his last two matches, the 22-year-old could ease off pressure by winning a high number of free points if he can continue to keep up the same numbers against Djokovic.

Net-play

The Serbian, with his spiderman-like sliding skills, is renowned to grind down his opponents from the baseline, which Shapovalov has experienced over his six losses to the tennis legend.

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Hence, for Shapovalov, it would be crucial to mix up his shot-making, to finish the longer rallies by coming on the net and disrupting Djokovic’s game style. In addition, drop shot could play a big role in the match, a weapon that Shapovalov should use effectively.

Unforced errors

Despite hammering a high number of winners, Shapovalov has committed 89 unforced errors during his last two matches. This is an area of grave concern since he cannot afford to commit such a high number of unforced errors against Djokovic, a man who hardly misses.

There’s going to be immense pressure on the young Canadian, hence he would need to keep a tab on his unforced errors count since the five-time Wimbledon Champion is adept at making his opponents force an error.

The Shapovalov-Djokovic semifinal showdown is yet another tussle between the old guard of the Big-3 vs. the Gen-Next. Who do you think would win?