Canadians Start U.S. Open Series Campaigns
In this week's edition of the Canadian Corner we will recap a slow week for the Canadian tennis players as only Milos Raonic was in action at the Truist Atlanta Open while the rest of the Canadians were flying home after losing early in Tokyo.
We will also preview the week ahead and give you the scoop on who is playing where and what event as the ATP continues it’s US hardcourt swing while WTA has some events in Europe and the US this week.
Milos Raonic was the number one seed in Atlanta and ended up with a first round bye before facing and being upset by Brandon Nakashima of the US in a three set battle 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Nakashima was coming off making the final in Los Cabos the previous week and ended up making it all the way to the final again in Atlanta before falling to the eventual champion John Isner.
Citi Open in Washington D.C.
This week the scene shifts to the American capital Washington, DC and the Citi Open where we will see the return of Rafael Nadal who hasn’t played since winning Roland Garros.
Nadal mentioned in his pre tournament press conference that he had suffered an injury and went 20 days without picking up a racquet and will be playing for the first time in DC despite being on tour for so long.
We have two Canadians in the field this week starting with Felix Auger Aliassime who is the number two seed and has earned a first round bye and will face the winner of the first round match between Yasutaka Uchiyama or the Italian Andreas Seppi.
For people who don’t remember Seppi knocked Felix out of Roland Garros in the first round so if the Italian wins revenge could be on the Canadian mind.
The other Canadian in the draw is the Vernon, BC native Vasek Pospisil who will play a qualifier from Ecuador Emilo Gomez on Monday afternoon.
Canadian Women
On the women's side we have two Canadians in action this week starting with Rebecca Marino who is in Concord, MA this week playing a WTA 125 event.
She was drawn to face the Pole Magdalina French in the first round after making it all the way to the final in doubles last week in Charleston with her partner En-Shuo Liang in another WTA 125 event.
Gabriela Dabrowski is playing singles and doubles this week at the Mubadala Silicon Valley event where she is scheduled to face Luisia Stefani in the first round.
If that name sounds all too familiar it’s because she lost to her in doubles in Tokyo when she represented Brazil and funny enough she is actually playing doubles with her as they are the top seeds in the draw.
That’s it, you're all caught up and keep an eye out for next week when we will recap the busy week and preview the two Canadian events in Montreal and Toronto.
Elias Laradi contributes to The Slice from Montreal, Canada