Quote of the Day: Denis Shapovalov wards off 'Nutella curse' with ...

With a smooth assist from the famed chocolate spread, the Canadian booked an intriguing third-round clash with world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

PARIS—For chocolate lovers, a day without Nutella at Roland Garros can feel like one without sunshine.

No. 26 seed Denis Shapovalov would surely co-sign that sentiment, resolving to maintain his daily dessert even in spite of a so-called “Nutella Curse”—one which has, in the past, appears to felled a slew of rising European football prospects in the last two decades:

Q. I don't know how true this is, but I've heard that when you're in Paris, you like croissants, but rather controversially, with Nutella as well. Now, this is quite important because you might not know this, but there's been some serious journalism around the Nutella curse. It's actually affected sport stars in the past. I know that the sport is just recovering from the Netflix curse. So just tell us about your love of Nutella, and how confident you are of rewriting history and breaking the Nutella curse here at Roland Garros by playing some great tennis?

DENIS SHAPOVALOV: Yeah, it's interesting. It's the first time I've heard about that, but I'll try to do my research. You know, I'm a little superstitious, but I don't think I'll go that far (laughing). I think I like my Nutella too much to give it up. Yeah, if I do go deep, maybe I'll think a little bit more about it.

I think I've had some good wins as well with some Nutella and some bad food before, the day before. So yeah, I don't think it affects too much.