Photo: Tyler Anderson
Upsets, upsets, and more upsets.
Some of tennis’ biggest stars fell to some of the most unlikely opponents.
While no Canadians made it past the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, you’ll need ten TV’s to keep up with all the Canadian action in Granby.
Here’s what you need to know.
Incase you missed it: Cincinnati was anything but predictable
The Western and Southern Open has seen quite a different outcome than the tournaments that preceded it in Toronto and Montreal.
Pablo Carreño Busta and Simona Halep, both champions from that National Bank Open presented by Rogers, were ousted within the first two rounds (Although Halep was forced to withdraw due to injury). From there, both the ATP and WTA sides saw many of their top seeds fall early and often.
On the womans side, American Madison Keys stunned world No. 1 Iga Świątek 6-3, 6-4 in the third round. Świątek has now failed to make it past the round of 16 in four tournaments since she won Roland Garros back in June.
Canada’s Leylah Annie Fernandez also had her tournament cut short, when she fell to Ekaterina Alexandrova in straight sets in the opening round.
In the end it was Caroline Garcia, who started in the qualifiers, that came out on top defeating Petra Kvitová 6-2, 6-4. The 28-year-old got past the likes of Maria Sakkari, Jessica Pegula, and Aryna Sabalenka en route to the final where she captured her third career Masters 1000 title, and first since 2017.
On the mens side, while Carreño Busta couldn’t make it past the opening round, his finals counterpart Hubert Hurkacz didn’t make it much further, falling to John Isner in the round of 32. Montreal semifinalist Casper Ruud also failed to make it past day two, losing to wildcard Ben Shelton.
But the story of this tournament, begins and ends with Borna Coric.
The 25-year-old began to turn heads when he defeated Rafael Nadal in the round of 32 in a hard fought 3-setter. From there, he began a run of dominance that started with a convincing 6-2, 6-3 win over Roberto Bautista Agut.
In the quarterfinals, Coric next took down Félix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4, before beating Cameron Norrie in straight sets to reach the final.
Fourth seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas was unable to put a stop to the Croatian in the final, as Coric completed the fairy tale ending with a 7-6(0),6-2 victory.
What to watch: Canada well represented in Granby
While the National Bank Open presented by Rogers is over, the ATP and WTA tours aren’t done with Canada just yet.
The woman’s singles draw of the Granby National Bank Championships began on Sunday and to say Canada was well represented would be an understatement.
Kayla Cross, Cadence Brace, and Marina Stakusic all prevailed in the qualifying round to join Rebecca Marino, Victoria Mboko, and Katherine Sebov in the main draw.
Sebov later became the first Canadian to advance at the tournament, beating Xinyu Wang in comeback fashion, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0.
Monday marks the second day of qualifying on the mens side, and four Canadians will be vying for a place in the main draw. Kelsey Stevenson, Justin Boulais, Dan Martin, and Taha Baadi will look to join a main draw that already features four other Canadians.
Under the radar: Shapovalov shows signs of old self in Cincinnati
The recent past hasn’t been easy for Denis Shapovalov. Going into Cincinnati, the Canadian hadn’t won consecutive matches since May.
Most recently, in Montreal, he looked overmatched when losing to Alex de Minaur in the first round.
In Cincinnati, Shapovalov opened his tournament winning a tough first set against Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(4). In the second set, however, the 23-year-old took charge, closing out the match 6-3.
Shapovalov carried that momentum into a tough second round matchup with American Tommy Paul, and it was midway through the second set where the Canadian began to look like his old self.
Down 6-3, 4-1, Shapovalov won five straight games to win the second set, and dominated in the third to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
In the round of 16 he met world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, and despite losing the match, Shapovalov showed he can once again compete with the world’s best, saving 77% of his break points in a close 5-7, 5-7 loss.
You can follow Canadians in action every week here.
