A student of the sport, Denis Shapovalov will be surfing for serving patterns ahead of his Australian Open blockbuster showdown with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
The 19-year-old lanky lefty will hit YouTube to try to pick up some successful patterns fellow left-hander Rafael Nadal has employed facing Djokovic 52 times in the most prolific rivalry in ATP history.
More: Monfils Dating Svitolina
While Djokovic respects the video homework, he claims there's only one quality the 25th-seeded Canadian shares with the king: "the left hand."
"On the other hand, in terms of his preparation, I guess he knows what he's doing. Nadal and him, yes, I mean, the only thing they're sharing I think is the left hand," Djokovic told the media after sweeping Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in round two. I don't think they share many similarities in their game. I think it's quite different."
Shapovalov showed the shotmaking skills many predict will make him a future champion when he reached the round of 16 as a qualifier at the 2017 US Open drawing frenzied fan support along the way.
Legendary lefties including Rod Laver, Martina Navratilova, John McEnroe and Nadal effectively whipped the slider serve on the ad side to displace right-handed returns off the court creating space for the first strike or volley.
Can Shapovalov successfully challenge Djokovic's vaunted two-handed backhand? And will Djokovic's signature shot, the backhand down the line, hurt Shapovalov's one-handed backhand?
The son of a tennis coach, Shapovalov studies video looking for past patterns of success against a champion whose only true weakness is a sporadic smash.
"I'm definitely going to try to look at players similar to my game style," Shapovalova said. "I'll take a look back at Paris against (Karen) Khachanov where Khachanov actually managed to beat him, what he was doing well, what was troubling Novak. And obviously matches with Rafa, I always try to pick up matches where Rafa plays my opponents just because I feel like I can kind of use the same serves he does, kind of play a little bit similar tennis to how he plays."
Continuing his quest for a record seventh Australian Open, the top seed also praised Shapovalov's professionalism and explosiveness.
"He's impressive not just as a talented tennis player but also how he goes about his professionalism, his commitments, how he deals with pressure, how confident he is on the court," Djokovic said. "Quite impressive. I've been following him the last couple years because he's one of the NextGen stars, promising young players.
"Yeah, he's very pumped. He brings a lot of energy to the court, which is great to see. I expect a really interesting encounter. He will not have anything really to lose, so I'm sure he's going to come out really pumped."
Indeed, the high-energy Shapo calls the prospect of his first clash with Djokovic "awesome."
"It's awesome," Shapovalov said. "Novak is definitely one of the big guys I really admired and looked up to growing up. It's definitely going to be awesome, just awesome to play against him, see how my game matches up against his."
A year ago, legendary lefty Rod Laver predicted Shapovalov will be a future Slam champion.
It will be intriguing to hear Djokovic's impression after their third-round encounter.
Photo credit: Mark Peterson/Corleve