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LONDON

After their match was suspended due to darkness late on Monday, Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and her mixed doubles partner Mate Pavic made sure to finish what they started.

Back on Court No. 18 on Tuesday afternoon, the No.3-seeded pair dispatched themselves of Jamie Murray and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to advance to the third round.

On Monday, the Canadian-Croatian duo had held serve in the third and decisive set to grab a 4-3 lead before darkness delayed the match. Less than 24 hours later, Dabrowski and Pavic were back on the London grass. They made quick work of their opponents, scoring a break before holding serve to win the match. The duo totaled 10 aces, eight more than Murray and Mattek-Sands.

Dabrowski and Pavic will next face Australia’s Artem Sitak and Germany’s Laura Siegemund in the third round on Wednesday. Should they win, they would best their result from last year. In 2018, as the No.1-seeded pair at Wimbledon, Pavic and Dabrowski were defeated by the British team of Jay Clarke and Harriet Dart in the third round. Gaby has never gone beyond the quarter-finals at the All England Club in mixed doubles.

However, in women’s doubles, the Ottawa native has had more success at Wimbledon. Dabrowski and her teammate Yifan Xu are looking to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club for the second year in a row. The No.4-seeded pair will have their chance to book their place in the final four, when they go up against Americans Mattek-Sands and Danielle Collins in the quarter-finals. That match is also set to take place on Wednesday.

Taha rises, Liam falls in boys’ singles

Photo: Mauricio Paiz

It was a day of mixed results for our Canadian juniors. Taha Baadi got thing off to a great start by ousting France’s Baptiste Anselmo in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(3). Later in the day, Liam Draxl was hoping to join his countryman in the third round. However, doing his best to battle through a groin injury, Draxl lost a tight three setter to Czech Republic’s Dalibor Svrcina 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3.

Baadi, who is playing in just his second career Junior Grand Slam, was especially effective at the net on Tuesday. The unseeded Canadian won 16 of 22 net points, while scoring 28 winners. He will next face the No.4-seeded Martin Damm of the United States in the round of 16. Damm is the highest seeded player remaining in the boys’ singles event.

Baadi should be up to the challenge though. In his only previous appearance in a Grand Slam, the 17 year old from Laval managed to reach the quarter-finals at this year’s Junior French Open. On Wednesday, he’ll look to repeat that effort when he faces Damm for a spot in the quarters.

Meanwhile, despite the disappointing loss, there are positives from the grass-court season that Draxl can build on. In his last tournament before arriving at the All England Club, the No.12-seeded Canadian reached the final at the Grade 1 Junior event in Roehampton. It marked the second time in 2019 that the 17 year old from Newmarket had reached the finals of a junior event. He previously won a Grade 1 Junior tournament in Carson back in April.

(Photo: Mauricio Paiz)

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