Fernandez, Andreescu, Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov, and Diallo find out who they’ll face first in
the singles draws; Dabrowski begins her title defense
[MONTREAL, QC] August 22, 2024 – The main draw of the US Open was decided this afternoon at the
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Six Canadians, along with three junior players. will be in the mix at the last Grand Slam of the season, which runs from August 26 to September 8.
Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, ON), Felix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON), and Gabriel Diallo (Montréal, QC) will all compete in singles. Fernandez and Shapovalov will also play doubles with their respective partners Yulia Putintseva and Soon-Woo Kwon. As for Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON), she’ll be defending the women’s title she shares with Erin Routliffe.
Andreescu, who made Canadian tennis history in 2019 when she became the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, was awarded a wild card into this year’s tournament and will go head-to- head against Jasmine Paolini (No. 5) in the opening round. The Italian has been a thorn in Andreescu’s side at this year’s Slams, eliminating the Canadian at Roland-Garros and Wimbledon. If Andreescu goes through, she could face two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka, Jelena Ostapenko, Fernandez or Putintseva ahead of the quarter-finals.
A finalist in 2021, No. 23-seed Fernandez will be working to rekindle her US Open magic. In the first round, she takes on Anastasia Potapova. A win means she’ll collide with Osaka or Ostapenko and then possibly with Andreescu, Paolini or her doubles partner Putintseva in the fourth round.
Seed No.19 Auger-Aliassime drew Jakub Mensik as his first opponent. The Canadian posted his best results in the Big Apple in 2021, when he got as far as the semi-finals before falling to eventual champion
Daniil Medvedev. This year, Jannik Sinner, Tommy Paul or Stefanos Tsitsipas could be in his path in the
fourth round and quarter-finals.
Shapovalov, who secured a quarter-final berth at the 2020 US Open, will be looking to get back to his
former level in round one against Botic Van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. He could then potentially
come across Carlos Alcaraz in the second round and Jack Draper in the third.
Diallo joins his compatriots in the main draw after winning all three of his qualifying matches. This marks
his first appearance in the main draw and his second Grand Slam debut, following his qualification at Roland-Garros earlier this year. He will find out his first-round opponent later today.
In doubles, defending champion Dabrowski will be participating in her 11th US Open. So far this season,
she’s fought in the final of Wimbledon and the National Bank Open presented by Rogers with Routliffe. Together, they’re the top team in women’s doubles. Fernandez is also in the doubles draw with Putintseva. The duo reached the final of the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open just last week.
Shapovalov and Kwon are teaming up for the first time. Shapovalov hasn’t been in the doubles mix since
2020.
In the junior event, Emma Dong (ON) of the National Tennis Centre in Montréal (NTC) and Nadia Lagaev (ON) are in the girls’ qualifying tournament.
Junior wheelchair competitor Frederique Berube Perron (QC) was directly entered into the main draw and became the very first Canadian to achieve the feat.
