The Canadians made their presence known in the first week of Roland-Garros. Highlighted by the return of Bianca Andreescu after a lengthy injury layoff, four of the five Canadians in the main draw got through multiple rounds, with three of them matching their career-best results in Paris. This week, one of Canada’s wheelchair athletes will look to make his mark on the Parisian clay after a strong lead-up performance. Here’s what you need to know.
In Case You Missed It: Four Canadians Score Wins at Roland-Garros While all five Canadians competing in the singles draws at the second Grand Slam event of the season failed to reach the second week, four of them had their best results at the clay-court major. Félix Auger-Aliassime had the deepest run, reaching the fourth round in Paris for the second time in his career. He served brilliantly through three rounds, taking out Yoshihito Nishioka, Henri Squire, and 15th seed Ben Shelton before meeting his match in the form of third seed Carlos Alcaraz.
What to Watch: Juniors, Wheelchair Join at Roland-Garros Three Canadians will be participating in the second week of the French Open. Leylah Annie Fernandez is the lone carryover from week one as she and Erin Routliffe are through to the third round of the women’s doubles. The ninth seeds meet Marta Kostyuk and Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the third round.
Under the Radar: Shaw Bringing Momentum Into Paris While the draw at Roland-Garros was not the most kind to Rob Shaw, he has every reason to be confident heading into the second major of the year after a huge week on the French clay in Royan. Shaw reached both finals at the ITF event, winning the doubles title alongside Heath Davidson. The pair have now won four titles together in 2024. They were the top seeds in Royan and did not have it easy, needing match tiebreaks in each round but they were able to find a way, taking down second seeds Francisco Cayulef and Donald Ramphadi 10-8 in the decider for the title.
Canada had its first victory on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2024 last week, with Liam Draxl and Benjamin Sigouin claiming the doubles title at an event in Little Rock. The all-Canadian squad went on a giant-killer run, taking out three of the top four-seeded teams on their way to the title, including wins over top seeds Joshua Paris and Ramkumar Ramanathan 16-14 in the match tiebreak in the semifinals and second seeds Rithvik Bollipalli and Hans Hach Verdugo in the final.
Victoria Mboko is continuing to make strides as her 2024 season heats up. She reached her first final of the year last week at a W50 event in Otocec, Slovenia, beating the sixth, third, and second seeds on her way to the title match, where she lost in three sets to Barbora Palicova.
This week on the ATP Challenger Tour, Denis Shapovalov is getting his grass season underway early, competing at the Lexus Surbiton Trophy event in the United Kingdom.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
