Denis Shapovalov shares his delight as fiance Mirjam Bjorklund announces return to tennis after 8 month injury layoff
Denis Shapovalov expressed his elation after his fiance, Swedish tennis player Mirjam Bjorklund, announced her return to professional tennis after eight months away.
Shapovalov and Bjorklund began dating in 2019 and got engaged four years later, in July 2023. The Swede, like her boyfriend is also a professional tennis player and is currently ranked 280th in the world. The 25-year-old had an unfortunate run-in with injuries after her campaign at the 2023 US Open in August, which kept her out of action for eight months.
Bjorklund recently took to Instagram to announce that she was coming back to professional tennis after the injury layoff. In a post, the Swede shared that she has recuperated from her foot injury and neck surgery and is ready to get back to tennis.
"8 months, one footinjury & one neck surgery later🤗 We’re back!🤍," Bjorklund wrote on Instagram.
Mirjam Bjorklund played in an ITF tournament in Portugal last week and bowed out in the first round. The World No. 280 is currently competing in the WTA 125 Lleida Challenger in Spain and won her opening-round qualifying match against Andorra's Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva on April 30.
Denis Shapovalov was ecstatic to see his fiance back on the professional circuit and left a message of encouragement on her Instagram post.
"Let’s goooo ❤️💪🏼," Shapovalov commented.
Denis Shapovalov most recently played at Madrid Open 2024
Like Mirjam Bjorklund, Denis Shapovalov also had his share of injury struggles. The Canadian suffered a knee injury during his fourth-round loss against Romain Safiullin at the Wimbledon Championships in July 2023. He returned to the ATP Tour at the ASB Classic in Auckland in January 204 after six months of recovery.
Unfortunately, the former World No. 10's comeback did not go as planned, as he lost in the opening round in Auckland and the Australian Open. Shapovalov notched his first comeback win at the Montepellier Open.
The Canadian found his form at the Miami Open in late March, bettering Luciano Darderi and No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to a third-round finish. The 25-year-old, currently ranked World No. 132, most recently competed at the Madrid Open, where he defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta and No. 26 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry before losing to No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.
Shapovalov has also signed up to play doubles in Madrid and partnered with Alexander Bublik. The duo will face No. 11 seeds Jamie Murray and Michael Venus in the opening round.