Denis Shapovalov has explained how his wife, Mirjam Bjorklund, has helped improve his game this year.
Shapovalov is a former world number 10, and reached the semifinals of Wimbledon in 2021.
However, the Canadian has struggled to consistently recreate this form since then, with Shapovalov being ranked outside the top 20 since January 2023.
After reaching the semifinals in Dallas, Shapovalov has travelled to the tournament in Dubai, where he lives with Bjorklund, and explained how she has been helping his tennis this year.
Denis Shapovalov reveals how wife Mirjam Bjorklund has been helping his tennis
Shapovalov and Bjorklund have been a couple since 2019, with the pair getting married in September last year.
Bjorklund is a former tennis player herself, and Shapovalov has told Tennis TV how she has been helping his game after he stopped working with coach Mikael Tillstrom.
“Yeah, to be honest I’m a bit kind of in the transition phase,” said Shapovalov. “I stopped working with Mikael a couple of weeks ago and she’s been helping me on court since then, especially while I’ve been here in Dubai. So yeah, she knows my game really, really well.
“So yeah, she was a player herself, she’s got a great tennis knowledge and yeah she’s…we are always communicating about my game and talking about it, so it’s easy for her to step in and help me out.
“I think she’s been great, I think a few things she’s given me over these last couple of weeks have been great and they helped in Dallas, so they can help me here as well…Yeah definitely a secret weapon both on and off the court. She’s a great wife, great person, so I’m very lucky in that.”
Shapovalov will have Bjorklund in his coaching box for his next tournament at the Dubai Tennis Championships, where he is playing Pablo Carreno Busta in the first round.
What did Mirjam Bjorklund achieve in her tennis career?
While Shapovalov is the more high-profile of the two, Bjorklund was also a WTA Tour player until last year.
Bjorklund achieved a career-high ranking of world number 123 in 2022, and won 10 ITF titles in her career.
The Swede also collected eight WTA tour-level wins, which includes Bjorklund collecting her only top 30 win against Elise Mertens in Bogota.
Bjorklund never won a Grand Slam main draw match, but she did qualify for a major tournament on every surface.
After dealing with injuries in recent years, Bjorklund announced that she was retiring from tennis last year at just 27 years old, stating that she wanted to explore other avenues in life.
Since calling a day on her career, Bjorklund has been helping her husband Shapovalov, which appears to be working well according to him.