Monday Digest: Fernandez Getting Final US Open Prep

Photo : Mathieu Belanger

The crown jewel of the summer hard court swing is now in view with just a week to go before the world’s best land in New York.

But there are still tournaments on the schedule this week, including a Canadian gearing up for hopefully another big run in the Big Apple.

If the last two weeks of 1000-level events are any indication, anything could happen at the US Open. Here’s what you need to know.

In Case You Missed: Auger-Aliassime snaps skid

A week after competing on home soil, the Canadian content at the Masters/WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati was limited with only Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski in the main draws.

Auger-Aliassime managed to score his first match win since May with an impressive comeback win over Matteo Berrettini, but was bounced in the second round by Adrian Mannarino.

Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe upset the previous week’s Montreal champions Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara in the first round, but lost in round two to Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi.

Leylah Annie Fernandez and Rebecca Marino both lost in qualifying.

While overall Cincinnati went very badly for most of the high seeds, it ended with a bang in both draws.

On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic won a nearly four-hour final against Carlos Alcaraz in a match that saw both men lead by a break in the set they needed to win (Alcaraz led by a set and a break in set two, Djokovic served for the match in set three) and both save championship points before the Serb took it in a third-set tiebreak.

Read the full tournament report on the National Bank Open website.

Coco Gauff won the biggest title of her career so far, backing up a semifinal win over world No. 1 Iga Swiatek with a victory over Karolina Muchova to win her first WTA 1000 title.

Read the full tournament report on the National Bank Open website.

What to Watch: Fernandez, Dabrowski in the Land

Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriela Dabrowski are the only Canadians looking to get a few more matches under their belt at the WTA 250 Tennis in the Land event in Cleveland, OH ahead of the year’s final major next week.

Both Canadians are already off and running having won their opening matches.

Fernandez cruised past Linda Noskova in the first round 6-0, 6-2 and will face Clara Tauson, who beat her at Roland-Garros. Should she make the quarter-finals, the Canadian is in the same section as No. 5 seed Anhelina Kalinina and is in the bottom half of the draw. Caroline Garcia is the top seed.

Dabrowski and partner Erin Routliffe were straight-set winners in round one and will meet the top-seeded pair of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the second round.

There are no Canadian men competing at the massive ATP 250 event in Winston-Salem, the lone event on the schedule that, despite being the lowest tier on the ATP Tour, is a 64-man draw. Borna Coric is the top seed.

US Open qualifying also gets underway this week with five Canadians looking to punch their ticket to the main draw in New York.

Gabriel Diallo, fresh off his first ATP Tour win in Toronto, and Alexis Galarneau, who recently won his first ATP Challenger title, will both be looking to get into the main draw of a major for the first time. They are joined in qualifying by Davis Cup teammate Vasek Pospisil.

Katherine Sebov will be looking to get into her second Grand Slam main draw. She made it through qualies into her maiden major earlier this year at the Australian Open. She is joined in qualifying by Eugenie Bouchard.

Under the Radar: Diallo scores on home soil

A week after winning his first-ever match on the ATP Tour, Gabriel Diallo had another career first, winning his first professional doubles title at the ATP Challenger Event in Winnipeg.

The host nation was guaranteed a local champion as Diallo and Swiss partner Leandro Riedi faced off with the all-Canadian pair of Taha Baadi and Juan Carlos Aguilar in the final. Diallo and Riedi won in straight sets.