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Originally Posted by Inglewood Jack
ok if you say so, but neither of us were members here around 2009-2010 when Milos was the age Shapo is now.
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In general I hear what you're saying, I think there's still time before anyone needs to worry that he's not going to pan out as one might have hoped late last season. But there's no comparison between these two types of players.
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hell, back when CP was born we could have had a tennis thread to talk about how Federer was on the verge of stalling out, you'd have as much of a case for that as you do for Shapo.
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Yes, you would have - well, Federer would have been slightly younger, but yeah, you could have said "he really needs to sort out his consistency issues, be more disciplined and select shots better, and not let the frustration seep into his game" for Fed. He did that, and he became the great player that everyone thought he could be (and then kept on getting better). Now, likewise, Denis needs to deal with his own weaknesses to take that same type of step into the upper echelon.
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Shapo's raw toolset is enough to put away even the best of the best when it's clicking. it's ridiculous not to give that kind of talent the time it needs to come together.
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It already
is together. That's the thing. Most of his game is getting to a point where it's not reasonable to expect a ton of improvement. His forehand isn't going to get much better, though he may get better at making decisions with it. His backhand isn't going to get much better. Volleys, footwork, those things show some room for improvement but he's already made the biggest part of the strides he needed to make in those areas. He's not going to get faster, his athleticism is probably about at its peak. This is probably 80% of the player he's capable of being. It's not crazy to suggest that whether he caps out at 85%, 90%, or 100% of what he's capable of being depends a whole hell of a lot on the next year or so.