Photo : Mauricio Paiz/Tennis Canada
The Sunshine Double enters its final week as the Miami Open will crown a champion.
A pair of Canadians are still in contention in Florida, including a former runner-up at the event who is looking more and more like her old, Slam-winning self with every win.
Florida is a popular winter destination for Canadians and clearly they were comfortable at Hard Rock Stadium, with six of the seven representatives of the Great White North winning at least one match in the first week of the 1000-level event.
Here’s what you need to know.
In Case You Missed It: Team Effort by the Canadians
The large Canadian contingent got off to a strong start at the Miami Open, with all six of them winning their opening singles matches.
Bianca Andreescu has been particularly impressive on her way to the round of sixteen, beating two former Grand Slam winners, Emma Raducanu in round one and Sofia Kenin in round three, and scoring her first Top 10 win of 2023 with a thrilling upset of Maria Sakkari in the second round.
All four Canadian women in the singles draw had to play a Top 10 player in round two and only Andreescu was successful. Leylah Annie Fernandez lost her third match in six months to Belinda Bencic, Rebecca Marino was worn down by Coco Gauff, and Katherine Sebov fell to Jessica Pegula.
However, by winning their respective first-round matches, all three notched their first victories at the Miami Open. Sebov had gotten into the draw as a qualifier and her first-round win over Linda Fruhvitova was her first-ever match win at a WTA 1000 event.
Read also: The Challenge and Importance of the Sunshine Double
Félix Auger-Aliassime only got one match in last week, where he battled past Thiago Monteiro in two grueling sets to reach the third round.
Denis Shapovalov also advanced to round three, where he was beaten by No. 9 seed Taylor Fritz.
Fernandez is the lone Canadian still alive in doubles alongside Taylor Townsend. Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani lost in the first round to Magda Linette and Bernarda Pera.
The biggest casualty on the men’s side of the singles draw was world No. 4 Casper Ruud, who lost in the third round to Botic van de Zandschulp and falls to 4-6 on the season.
As usual, the women’s side of the draw has been more hectic with six Top 10 players already eliminated. After beating their respective Canadian opponents, both Bencic and Gauff crashed out in the next round. No. 4 Ons Jabeur, No. 5 Caroline Garcia and No. 8 Daria Kasatkina joined Sakkari in losing their opening matches.
Defending champion Iga Świątek withdrew with a rib injury prior to her opening match, leaving No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka as the highest-ranked player left in the draw.
What to Watch: A second final for Bianca?
The draw is opening up for the 2021 Miami Open runner-up Bianca Andreescu. She meets Ekaterina Alexandrova on Monday in the round of sixteen and would face either No. 15 seed Petra Kvitova or Varvara Gracheva in the quarter-finals. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka would be her likely semifinal opponent.
Félix Auger-Aliassime has a tougher path in Miami, but by no means an impossible one. He plays Francisco Cerundolo for the third time in 2023 in the third round on Monday (the Canadian won both previous meetings) and would play either Lorenzo Sonego or Frances Tiafoe in the last sixteen.
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas is Auger-Aliassime’s projected quarter-final opponent, with his nemesis Daniil Medvedev potentially looming in the semis.
Carlos Alcaraz is the top seed and defending champion, but is on the opposite half of the draw from the Canadian.
Read also: The Rise of Czech Stars on the WTA Tour
Leylah Annie Fernandez will look to advance to the quarter-finals of the doubles when she and Taylor Townsend take on seventh seeds Beatriz Haddad Maia and Giuliana Olmos.
Under the Radar:
Following up on his title run at the ITF M25 event in Montreal, Gabriel Diallo reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Challenger event last week in Biel, Switzerland, where he lost in three sets to the eventual runner-up Liam Broady.
Diallo will be back at it this week at an ATP Challenger event in Lille, France. Steven Diez will also be competing on the Challenger Tour in Girona, Spain.
Buy tickets for Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Vancouver
For the fifth week in a row, a Canadian claimed some hardware on the ITF circuit as Louise Kwong won the doubles title at the ITF W15 event in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt alongside American partner Anna Ulyashchenko.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
