Canadians focused on experiencing the glory of Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, UK — This year's Wimbledon tournament decision There are no ranking points offered as a result of the corresponding ATP Tour and WTA Tour decisions. Ban Russian and Belarusian players.

However, Canada's top Felix Auger Aliassim said on Saturday that it would not affect the desires and strength of players competing for the Grand Slam title.

"Winning, with or without points, remains an honorable tournament, so all players will do their best to win the match here," Auger-Aliassime said on Saturday. Told. "We have a lot of fans and money. Players will find a personal motivation to do their best."

Auger-Aliassime is ranked 9th, but 1st in the world He was seeded in 6th place and Alexander Zverev in 2nd place suffered a serious ankle injury at Roland Garros because of the ban on Daniil Medvedev in 1st place and Andrey Rublev in 8th place.

The 21-year-old reached the quarter-finals a year ago. So he will see these ranking points drop from the 52-week rolling computer tally in 2 weeks, even if he doesn't have the opportunity to replace them in this year's edition.

Beyond that, he has a challenging opening round against French-American Maxime Cressy.

Crecy, who made it to the finals of the ATP tournament in Eastbourne this weekend, is a rare throwback. He is a serve and volley player who challenges Auger Ali Asime from the net on every occasion.

Another Canadian in the men's singles, No. 13 Denis Shapovalov is in a worse situation as he advanced to the semi-finals a year ago and lost to Novak Djokovic.

Auger Aliashime is expected to stay in 9th place, so this decision has no effect. For Shapovalov, it means going down from 16th to 23rd in the top 20.

Shapovalov will face Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, who defeated him on a hardcourt in Doha, Qatar a few months ago.

Auger-Aliassime's glass coat lead-up season was pretty good. He reached the semi-finals in his first tournament in's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, and the following week in Halle, Germany. In both cases he lost to the final champion.

Shapovalov will be competing in Wimbledon this year after losing the opening singles match in the last five tournaments. This includes Stuttgart, a glass court defeat at Queen's Club, and a 6-4, 6-1 defeat to France's Benjamin Bonzi in Mallorca this week.

At the Queen's Club last week, Shapovalov said he just had to put up with it.

"Looking back a few years ago, I wasn't very successful on the grass. I feel the same now. I'm in the match, but I'm getting a breakthrough. No, but I think it feels more calm to enter Wimbledon because I was late last year, "Shapovalov said.

"I know that if I pull one or two of these kinds of matches, things can really start clicking on the grass. You're a little confident And suddenly you start to turn more on those occasions. "

On the women's side, Bianca Andreesck goes to Wimbledon in the wings of the final match in Bad Homburg, Germany this week. Arrive.

The 22-year-old has won one WTA-level career on the upcoming turf this season. However, for her Wimbledon, she will win four games and aim for her first Wimbledon victory with American qualifier Emina Vectors on Tuesday.

Her single ranking was 120th in April, rising to 56th.

If Andreesque wins, she may have seen her encounter with Kazakhstan's 17th seed Elena Rybakina in the second round.

A year ago, Andreesque lost to France's Alizé Cornet in the first round of Wimbledon.

Another Canadian in the Women's Singles is Rebecca Marino in Vancouver, returning to the All England Club for the first time since 2011.

Marino left the sport at 4 1/2. She took years to tackle mental health issues and she returned in early 2018. After she dealt with some injuries early on, she is now healthy and likely to return to the top 100.

"It feels like eternity — a little — but it doesn't feel that long either. Marino said he made a main draw as a lucky loser in Eastbourne last week and won the first round.

"This is my first (direct) main draw since I returned. It's under different circumstances as I had to rely on Russians and Belarusians to withdraw. It's a shame it's not, but I'm still really proud of it. "

The unseeded 31-year-old face companion is the first on Monday. Played Polish Katazinakawa in the round.

In addition to the four single draw players, Gloucester, Ontario's Gabriela Dabrowski is seeded third in the women's doubles with Mexican partner Giuliana Olmos.

The only Canadian in qualifying, 2014 Wimbledon Doubles Champion Basek Pospicil, was eliminated in the first round last Monday.

And Leylah Fernandez, the finalist of the 2021 French Open Women's Singles, is absent because she is rehabilitating a stress fracture in her leg that suffered from Roland Garros earlier this month.

Beyond that, two Canadians representing other countries will also compete in Wimbledon.

Born in Toronto, Alejandro Tabiro will make his men's singles and doubles debut at the age of 25, who represented Canada when he played Wimbledon Junior in 2014 and 2015. Tabiro has been playing in his parents' home country Chile since turning professional. He made his first Top 100 in February last year.

Born to Canadian parents in Auckland, New Zealand, Erin Routliff returned to Canada at the age of four. She grew up in Caledon, Ontario and now lives in Montreal, where she represented Canada at Wimbledon Juniors 10 years ago. She Lautriff is the 11th seed of the women's doubles with Polish partner Alicia Rosolska.

Lautriff, now 27, began to represent New Zealand when she went on a Pro Tour after she graduated from the University of Alabama. She reached the doubles final at the Bad Homburg Open on Saturday and is ranked 34th, the highest career in the field.

This report by Canadian Press was first published on June 26, 2022