Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov are among the top seeds in singles
Montreal, May 25, 2023 — The official draw for the 2023 French Open took place today on-site at Roland- Garros. A total of six Canadian players will be competing in the main draw, as Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON), Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), and Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC) are all set to compete in singles. Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON) will be participating in doubles, joining Fernandez and Marino who have both entered the doubles draw with their respective partners.
The highest-ranked Canadian for this year’s edition of the French Open will be Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime, who is currently sitting at No. 10 in the ATP rankings. Later today, Auger-Aliassime will be playing in the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open as he looks to start a winning streak ahead of his fourth Roland-Garros appearance. In 2022, the Montrealer reached the fourth round of the event before losing to eventual winner and 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in a five-set thriller. This year, playing in the top quarter, he has been drawn against Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the first round and would likely have to defeat No. 5- seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the fourth round to go one further than his best result on the Parisian clay courts.
Shapovalov, the 26th seed, will be competing out of the same quarter as Auger-Aliassime. In his opening- round match, he will face American Brandon Nakashima, whom he’s faced just once before, losing in four sets at Wimbledon in 2022. For Shapovalov to face compatriot Auger-Aliassime in the quarter-finals, he would have to get by the likes of world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and No. 14-seed Cameron Norrie of the United Kingdom. Shapovalov’s best result at the French Open was reaching the second round in 2018 and 2020.
On the women’s side, Andreescu gears up for her fourth appearance at the French Open. Currently sitting at No. 41 in the WTA rankings, the Mississauga native enters the event as the top-ranked Canadian woman in singles and will play out of the top quarter. Her path to the finals won’t be easy, as she’s drawn two-time Grand Slam champion and French Open semifinalist Victoria Azarenka in the first round. Azarenka, who is seeded No. 18, and Andreescu have yet to face each other. Other top names in Andreescu’s quarter are Poland’s Iga Swiatek (No. 1), American Coco Gauff (No. 6), and Veronika Kudermetova (No. 11).
Fernandez, who plays some of her best tennis on clay courts, will look to build off her quarter-final appearance in 2022 heading into this year’s event. Placed in the third quarter, Fernandez, world No. 51, will take on No. 21-seed Magda Linette of Poland in the opening round. Interestingly, Fernandez’s debut at the French Open was against Linette, as the Canadian took the match in three sets by a score of 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. Other possible matchups for the 20-year-old include Greece’s Maria Sakkari (No. 8), Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic (No. 12), and American Jessica Pegula (No. 3).
Rounding out the Canadian contingent in the singles event is Marino, who will be playing in her third Roland- Garros main draw. She reached the third round of the French Open back in 2011 and will need to defeat the likes of No. 14-seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Ekaterina Alexandrova, 23rd seed, to earn her best result at the event. But first, she’ll need to defeat Diana Schnaider, world No. 107, as they are set to face off in the opening round.
In doubles, Dabrowski joins forces with Brazilian Luisa Stefani, Fernandez reunites with American Taylor Townsend, and Marino partners with Lin Zhu of China. The doubles draw will be made in due course. Additionally, on the wheelchair tennis circuit, Rob Shaw will be making his French Open debut. The world No. 6 in the quad division will be playing in two clay court tournaments to prep for Roland-Garros, which is set to take place from June 5 to 11.
