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       Canada's Denis Shapovalov acknowledges the crowd after being defeated by Serbia's Novak Djokovic during the men's singles semifinals match on day eleven of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 9, 2021. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

       Alberto Pezzali/The Associated Press

       Sometimes a good measure of an athlete’s progress is to analyze how they respond to a loss. By that assessment Denis Shapovalov has come a long way after falling to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-final on Friday.

       After the match, Shapovalov didn’t talk about how happy he was just to make it to his first Grand Slam semi-final or mention how great it was to go up against one of his idols on Centre Court. Instead, he expressed anguish at losing and rage at how close he came to dethroning the world No. 1 and five-time Wimbledon champion.

       “It just hurt a lot,” Shapovalov said. “I think what hurt so much this time was just that I felt like the game is there and it’s possible to go and play for the trophy. It’s a feeling I’ve never had before, so that’s why it just hurt so much. I felt like I was outplaying Novak in parts of the match. If you’re outplaying Novak, you can beat anyone.”

       The scoreline showed Djokovic winning in straight sets – 7-6 (3), 7-5, 7-5 – but anyone watching could see that the outcome hinged on a handful of points.

       Just look at the first set. Shapovalov had more aces, more winners and fewer double faults than Djokovic and they won the same number of points. And yet Djokovic took it by eking out a late break in the 10th game just as Shapovalov was trying to serve out the set. Then he squeaked through the tiebreaker.

       The match carried on much the same way in the second and third sets. Shapovalov had plenty of chances to pull ahead but he missed eight break points in the final two frames and only converted one out of 11 during the entire match. Djokovic didn’t do much better and won just three of 10 break points. But he made them when it counted – late in the second and late in the third – and forced Shapovalov into making mistakes.

       “He was the better player I think for the first couple sets,” Djokovic conceded after the match. “He had a lot of opportunities and just didn’t manage to close it out when he needed to. In important moments I think I probably held my nerves better than he did and just made him play an extra shot, made him do an unforced error, which was the case.”

       Djokovic will play Matteo Berrettini in the final on Sunday. The Italian beat Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 6-3, 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the earlier semi-final on Friday.

       The 15,000 spectators who watched Shapovalov’s match also knew just how close the Canadian came to upsetting Djokovic, who remained on course for his third Grand Slam title this year and 20th overall. As he walked off the court, the crowd gave Shapovalov a rousing standing ovation and several Canadian flags could be seen fluttering in the stands.

       Among the well wishers were 12 elementary school children from St. Matthew Academy in south London. The students started following Shapovalov this spring when their teacher, former tennis coach Adam Kohlbeck, began sharing his love of the game. Kohlbeck has known Shapovalov for nearly 10 years and a few weeks ago he showed his class some videos of him playing.

       The school has now become Shapovalov’s biggest fan base and some of the students were cheering so loudly on Friday they had to be hushed by stewards. They left singing his praises and declaring “Well done for trying.”

       Shapovalov can take some solace from the tournament. Despite what he called his “heartbreaking” semi-final loss, he played some of his best tennis and asserted himself as a rising star among the next generation of players.

       He won straight-set victories over Andy Murray and world No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut. During his quarter-final win over Karen Khachanov, he also showed rare composure by coming back from being down 2-1 in sets.

       He still hasn’t beaten Djokovic in seven attempts and his record against top-five players is now 1-14. And he’s won just a single ATP title, at a hardcourt event in Stockholm in 2019. But he seems to have turned a corner, physically and mentally, and when the rankings come out on Monday he’ll be firmly in the top 10.

       “I’m super happy with my level and the way I’ve been able to play throughout these two weeks,” he said Friday. “It’s a level I’ve never played before. The confidence and everything, the way I carried myself these two weeks, it’s been different. I don’t consider myself the same player.”

       He’ll take some time to recover and he’s passed on the Tokyo Olympics over concerns about COVID-19 restrictions. But he’s already itching for his next shot at a championship. “For sure I don’t want to stop here and I want to keep going,” he said. “If anything, this has made me more hungry to try to win a trophy.”