The Canadian arrived on tour as an 18-year-old in 2017, with Shapovalov poised to be a big talent for the future at the time.

Shapovalov has lived up to some of these prospects after reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals and breaking into the top 10.

However, in more recent years poor form and injury have meant that Shapovalov has slid down the rankings.

After his Dallas Open victory, some ex-players have questioned whether Shapovalov can keep it up and now his former doubles partner John Isner has had his say.

John Isner responds when asked if Denis Shapovalov is back

Isner partnered Shapovalov at the 2021 Laver Cup, contributing to Team World’s only point in that edition of the event after beating the pairing of Alexander Zverev and Matteo Berrettini.

When speaking on his Nothing Major Podcast, Isner praised Shapovalov and suggested that the Canadian was playing top five level tennis in Dallas.

“Shapovalov was incredible and you sort of got the sense once he beat Taylor Fritz in the second round 7-6 in the third he was about to take off,” said Isner.

“He gained all sorts of confidence. He beat [Tomas] Machac, 7-6, 6-0, then takes out Tommy Paul in straight sets, then Casper Ruud in straight sets. Three top 10 wins en route to the biggest title in his career.

“You ask the question, is Shapo back and me watching it? The answer is yes. He was ripping winners from the back of the court, not double faulting that much, one handed backhand down the line was on fire especially on passes.

“He was incredible, was definitely playing top 10 tennis this week. I would say top five tennis in the semi-finals, when he was playing Tommy.”

How many ranking points does Denis Shapovalov have to defend until Roland Garros?

Isner is not the only person backing the current world number 32 to return to previous heights, with Rennae Stubbs also predicting Shapovalov to rise up the ranks.

This will be made easier by the little number of points Shapovalov has to defend during both the North American hard court swing and clay court season.

Shapovalov only has 290 ranking points to defend until the grass court season, which means that he would still be ranked world number 45 without gaining any ranking points up to and including Roland Garros.

This is likely to be made even better for Shapovalov, as he is now ranked in a position where he will be seeded for Grand Slams and some Masters 1000 tournaments that should make his draws somewhat easier.

While he has not been competing on the ATP Tour this week, Shapovalov has been active on social media.

Shapovalov will return to action at the Mexican Open in Acapulco, before heading to Indian Wells for the start of the sunshine double.