Photo : Martin Sidorjak
Canada has plenty of history at the All-England Club. While the odds of another trophy coming home diminished greatly in the first week of the 2023 Championships, it was clear that this is the Slam venue where Canadians are the most comfortable.
Despite rain wreaking havoc at Wimbledon, the event has managed to get more-or-less back on schedule heading into week two.
Here’s what you need to know.
In Case You Missed It: Close Calls for Canada
Say what you will about the Canadian results at the All-England Club, the players from the Great White North are fighters.
While all seven Canadians were eliminated from singles in the first week of Wimbledon, none of them went down without pushing their opponent.
All four Canadian women lost in third sets. Both Bianca Andreescu in round three and Leylah Annie Fernandez in round two came close to causing major upsets as each took the opening set against a Top 10 player. A rain delay cost Andreescu the momentum against Ons Jabeur, while Fernandez came up just short in a third-set tiebreak against Caroline Garcia.
Despite both losing in the first round, Rebecca Marino and Carol Zhao pushed their matches right to the end, losing to Irina Camelia Begu and Tamara Korpatsch respectively. For Zhao, it was her first appearance in a Grand Slam main draw.
On the men’s side, Denis Shapovalov seems to be saving his best for the majors this year as he powered into the fourth round, his best Slam result since the 2022 Australian Open. However, his body undid him in the fourth round against Roman Safiulin as he hobbled to a four-set loss.
Bodies breaking down were a problem for the Canadian men. Félix Auger-Aliassime played his first match since Roland-Garros in round one but never looked comfortable as he bowed out to lucky loser Michael Mmoh.
Milos Raonic made his return to Grand Slam play, having not competed in a major since the 2021 Australian Open. He won his first Slam match in two and a half years before falling in a four-set dogfight against No. 16 seed Tommy Paul in four tight sets.
After a strong run at the French Open, doubles did not go as well for the Canadians in SW19.
Fernandez and Taylor Townsend had one of their worst results as a team, bowing out in round two to Luisa Stefani and Garcia, a second loss to the Frenchwoman at the Championships for Fernandez. Gabriela Dabrowski lost in the first round of both the women’s and mixed doubles.
Overall, the main story of the week at Wimbledon was rain, which canceled the majority of matches over the first few days leading to a hectic latter half of the week.
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For the most part, the favourites have been making their way through the draw. Six of the Top Eight are still alive on the men’s side, the highest-ranked loser being No. 4 Casper Ruud who bowed out in round two. A couple of surprises to reach the second week are Safiulin and Christopher Eubanks, who shocked Stefanos Tsitsipas to reach his first Grand Slam quarter-final.
Honourable mention must go to Andrey Rublev, who hit a potential shot-of-the-year to set up match point in his wild fourth-round match with Alexander Bublik.
Iga Swiatek had to survive a massive scare in her fourth-round match, saving a couple of match points to beat Belinda Bencic. The Top Six remain in the draw on the women’s side.
What to Watch: Leylah Flying the Flag
Only Leylah Annie Fernandez remains at the All-England Club with the nation’s hopes once against resting on the Laval native in the doubles, this time mixed as she is seeded fourth alongside Wesley Koolhof, the No. 2-ranked men’s doubles player in the world.
Fernandez and Koolhof are into round two and are the highest-seeded pair left in the draw.
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World No. 1 Iga Swiatek will have a blockbuster quarter-final with Elina Svitolina as the Ukrainian continues her dramatic comeback from maternity leave with yet another big run at a major. A potential ball-destroying semifinal between world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Elena Rybakina is also still in play.
Novak Djokovic remains on track for a record-tying eighth title at the All-England Club. He faces Rublev in the quarter-finals and could have a rematch of his epic clash last year with Jannik Sinner in the semis.
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz will have his hands full in the fourth round with 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini. Three of the four highest seeds are all still alive in the top half: Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, and Holger Rune.
Under the Radar:
There is still some junior interest at the All-England Club for the Canadians as Keegan Rice is alive in both boy’s singles and doubles.
In singles, he faces the 16th seed Alejandro Melero Kretzer in the second round and could face No. 4 Cooper Williams in round three. Rice is teamed up with fellow Canadian Duncan Chan. They meet the eighth-seeded pair in the first round.
Rob Shaw is competing in the quad wheelchair competition, looking to build off his runner-up performance at Roland-Garros.
Back on this side of the pond, there are three ITF events taking place in Canada this week with a large amount of representation for the host nation.
There is a W60 event taking place in Saskatoon, where Victoria Mboko is defending her first title as a pro. The field in Saskatchewan includes Stacey Fung, Victoria Cross, Layne Sleeth, and many more Canadians.
On the men’s side, there is an M25 event in Laval, QC, while there is an ITF wheelchair event taking place in Vancouver.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
