AO 2025: Five Canadians in the Main Singles Draw
The 2025 Australian Open is Set to Begin
Dabrowski to compete in women’s doubles
[MONTREAL, QC] January 9, 2025 – On Thursday, the main singles draws of the 2025 Australian Open were decided at the steps of the legendary Margaret Court Arena, and five Canadians are in the mix at the first Slam of the season. By virtue of their ranking, Leylah Annie Fernandez (Laval, QC), Rebecca Marino (Vancouver, BC), Felix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON) and Gabriel Diallo (Montréal, QC) each secured a spot and now know the identity of their first opponent.
Gabriela Dabrowski, who was an AO semifinalist in 2024, will compete in the women’s doubles event whose draw will be decided on Saturday.
World No.31 Leylah Fernandez will take on Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine. The Quebecer ended last season on a high note, fighting her way into the semifinals of the WTA 250 in Hong Kong and the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 in Tokyo. Over the next few days, she could run into Coco Gauff in the third round and Jelena Ostapenko or Naomi Osaka in the fourth. This is Leylah’s sixth time in Melbourne. She fell in the second round in 2024 and 2023.
World No.98 Rebecca Marino will go head-to-head against Katie Boulter (22) of Great Britain in their opening match. The British Colombian impressed late last season when she closed out 2024 with the biggest title of her career at the WTA 125 in Midland. She got as far as the semifinals at the WTA 125 in Mexico after winning the W75 in Calgary in the weeks prior. If Marino clinches the upset, she could collide with Beatriz Haddad Maia (15) in the third round. This year marks the 34-year-old’s eighth AO appearance.
World No.29 Felix Auger-Aliassime will face Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the first round and potentially Casper Ruud (6) in the third, Tommy Paul (12) in the fourth and Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals. In 2024, the Montrealer tussled in the final of the Madrid Masters and placed fourth in singles and won bronze in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski at the Paris Olympics. In Melbourne, Auger-Aliassime posted his best performance in 2022 with a quarterfinal berth.
World No.58 Denis Shapovalov will start his AO against Roberto Bautista-Agut of Spain. The formerNo.10 made a fantastic comeback in 2024, clawing his way up the rankings after an injury left him at No.116 at the same period in 2023. He ended last year with the title from the ATP 250 in Belgrade as a qualifier. In Melbourne, the 25-year-old Ontarian played in the third round in 2021 and 2023 and the quarterfinals in 2022. The potential obstacles on his path to the 2025 final are Lorenzo Musetti (16) in the second round, Ben Shelton (21) in the third and Taylor Fritz (4) in the fourth.
World No.87 Gabriel Diallo enters his very first AO main draw after being down on his luck at the 2024 and 2023 qualifying events. In the first round, he is pitted against No.90 Luca Nardi of Italy. The Montrealer has never entered the main draw of a Slam based on his ranking before. In 2024, he continued to make brilliant progress, battling all the way to the third round of the US Open as a qualifier and the final of the ATP 250 in Almaty. He also took the top honours at the Chicago Challenger in July. In Melbourne, he could face Karen Khachanov (19) in the second round and Stefanos Tsitsipas (11) in the third.
World No.3 in women’s doubles Gabriela Dabrowski goes into the AO on the heels of an exceptional season last year. With Erin Routliffe, the 32-year-old Ontarian became the first Canadian to win the doubles title at the WTA Finals in Riyadh last November. And in addition to sharing an Olympic medal in mixed doubles with Felix Auger-Aliassime, she appeared in the finals of Wimbledon, the National Bank Open in Toronto and the Miami Open and claimed the crown at a WTA 250 on grass. The draw for the doubles events will be held on Saturday, January 11.
Additionally, North Bay’s Robert Shaw will participate in the quad wheelchair tennis division event as the world No. 7. Shaw reached the semi-finals in doubles and the quarter-finals in singles at the 2024 Australian Open. This year, he will compete in doubles with his partner, Heath Davidson from Australia.
The main draw matches of the 2025 Australian Open start on Sunday, January 12 (in the evening on January 11 in Canada) and will be broadcast live on TSN and RDS.
