Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario has decided not to participate at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 according to the Canadian Press on Monday. Shapovalov, who is currently ranked 14th in the world, is one of four players ranked in the top 15 who have decided not to attend the Olympic Games next month. The Canadian is joined by world number three Rafael Nadal of Spain, world number five Dominic Thiem of Austria, and world number 15 Casper Ruud of Norway.
Shapovalov’s reasoning for missing the Olympic Games is related to coronavirus. He is worried about the low vaccination rate and the high number of coronavirus cases in Japan.
The Japanese government has been slower to vaccinate its people compared to many other countries across the world. According to Kyodo News on Monday, only 3.6% of the Japanese population has received two shots of the coronavirus vaccine.
Meanwhile, Japan currently has 20,434 cases of coronavirus, which ranks them 49th in the world among active cases. In Japan, they have had 785, 287 total cases, and 14, 423 deaths.
This is the second significant tournament that Shapovalov has missed in 2021. He also missed the French Open because of a shoulder injury he suffered in the final of the Geneva Open, where he lost to Ruud.
Shapovalov’s record this season is 18 wins and 13 losses. In addition to reaching the final of the Geneva Open, Shapovalov reached the semifinals of Queen’s (primary tuneup for Wimbledon), the quarterfinals of Stuttgart, the semifinals of Dubai, and the quarterfinals of Qatar. Shapovalov’s lone career ATP Title came at the 2019 Swedish Open, where he beat Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, 6-4, 6-4.
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