Monday Digest: Canadians Opening 2025 with Huge Outcomes

The 2025 tennis season is off to an unbelievable begin for Canada. 

In 2024, Canadian followers needed to wait till the ultimate week of the season to get a singles title on the primary tour. This 12 months, they obtained one within the second week of January. And Félix Auger-Aliassime’s title was one in all 5 received by Canadians final week. 

Speak about kicking off the 12 months on a excessive notice. Right here’s what it is advisable to know. 

In Case You Missed It: Auger-Aliassime Shines within the Aussie Solar 

Félix Auger-Aliassime wasted no time in placing his title-less 2024 season behind him. In his first common ATP Tour occasion of the brand new 12 months, the Canadian claimed the title on the Adelaide Worldwide. It was his first victory since Basel in October 2023. 

On his strategy to the title, he defeated France’s Arthur Cazaux adopted by three straight Individuals: Marcos Giron, prime seed Tommy Paul, and Sebastian Korda in three units within the ultimate. The title is the sixth of Auger-Aliassime’s profession and first open air. 

Denis Shapovalov was additionally competing in Adelaide. He beat Zhizhen Zhang in straight units within the first spherical earlier than falling to Giron in spherical two. 

Leylah Annie Fernandez was competing on the WTA aspect in Adelaide however misplaced within the first spherical of each the singles, having come by qualifying, and doubles.  

Gabriel Diallo was competing on the ATP 250 occasion in Auckland.  He misplaced a three-set thriller to Lorenzo Sonego within the first spherical. 

Click on right here for extra information and outcomes from the ATP and WTA Excursions.

What to Watch: Slam Season is Right here 

The primary Grand Slam occasion of 2025, the Australian Open, is already underway in Melbourne. 

Seven Canadians are competing on the 12 months’s first main, with two having already performed their opening matches. 

Leylah Annie Fernandez and Félix Auger-Aliassime each obtained off to profitable begins at Melbourne Park, profitable their first-round matches over Yuliia Starodubtseva and Jan-Lennard Struff respectively. 

Learn additionally: ATP Energy Rankings – Sinner Appears to be like to Keep Dominant at Australian Open

Gabriel Diallo, Rebecca Marino and Denis Shapovalov will all play their first-round singles matches on Tuesday. Diallo’s match is at 11 am in Melbourne, 7 pm EST Monday evening in Canada. Marino and Shapovalov are each scheduled fourth on their respective match courts. 

Click on right here to learn in regards to the Canadians’ singles attracts on the Australian Open.

Three Canadians are additionally competing in doubles. 

Fernandez is the lone Canadian pulling double-duty. She is teaming up with Nadiia Kichenok in doubles. The pair are seeded sixteenth and can face native wildcards Talia Gibson and Maya Joint within the first spherical. They may meet prime seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend within the third spherical. 

Learn additionally: WTA Energy Rankings – Sabalenka Eyeing Three-Peat at Australian Open

Gabriela Dabrowski is opening her season in Melbourne. She and Erin Routliffe might be competing of their first occasion collectively since profitable the WTA Finals in November. They’re seeded second and can face the American pair of Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk within the first spherical.  

Their first seeded opponents may very well be No. 15 Beatriz Haddad Maia and Laura Siegemund within the third spherical. 

On the boys’s aspect, Vasek Pospisil is the lone Canadian consultant. He’s teaming up with doubles world No. 3 Jordan Thompson. They open in opposition to Gregoire Jacq and Orlando Luz and will face thirteenth seeds Sander Gille and Jan Zielinski in spherical two. The fourth-seed German powerhouses Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz loom in spherical three. 

Underneath the Radar: Double Delight for Mboko 

It was not simply Félix Auger-Aliassime bringing house the {hardware} as Canadians managed to select up one other 4 titles on the ITF Tour.  

The massive star was 18-year-old Victoria Mboko, who stormed to her fourth skilled singles title on the W35 occasion in Le Lamentin, Martinique with out dropping a set. She received the primary three units of her run 6-0 earlier than her second-round opponent lastly obtained on the board within the second set of their match.  

Mboko received an all-Canadian semifinal in opposition to Cadence Brace 7-6(4), 6-2 earlier than clinching the title with a win over No. 2 seed Clervie Ngounoue of america 7-5, 6-3. The younger Canadian has now received not less than one singles title for 4 consecutive years. 

She and Brace additionally teamed as much as win the doubles title in Le Lamentin. They knocked off three of the highest 4 seeded groups on their strategy to the ultimate, capping it off with a 6-2, 7-6(2) win excessive seeds Olivia Lincer of Poland and Ngounoue. It was the primary skilled doubles title for each Canadian girls. 

Katherine Sebov received her first title since lifting the trophy in Saguenay in October 2023 on the W35 occasion in Naples, Florida. It was her fifth ITF singles title total.  

She kicked off her marketing campaign with a win over her second-seeded compatriot Carson Branstine, received an exciting semifinal in opposition to fourth-seed Elizabeth Mandlik 7-5 within the third set, earlier than cruising by the ultimate, beating Jessica Pieri of Italy 6-2, 6-0. 

Lastly, Juan Carlos Aguilar picked up a win on the ITF males’s tour, claiming the doubles title with Australia’s Kody Pearson. The highest-seeded pair needed to battle by a few match tiebreaks however cruised within the ultimate, beating the tandem from Barbados of Darian King and Stephen Slocombe 6-3, 6-3 for the title, the 14th of Aguilar’s profession. 

Liam Draxl practically made it six titles for the Canadians final week, reaching the ultimate of the ATP Challenger occasion in Oeiras, Portugal, however misplaced to Hamad Medjedovic. 

Rob Shaw obtained his 2025 season underway on the ITF wheelchair circuit at an occasion in Melbourne. He reached the quarter-finals of the quad singles and the ultimate of the quad doubles with Heath Davidson, dropping in straight units to Francisco Cayulef and Gonzalo Enrique Lazarte. 

This week, 4 Canadian males together with two of the squad for Canada’s upcoming Davis Cup tie in Montreal, Draxl and Alexis Galarneau, are competing at a second ATP Challenger in Oeiras. Sebov, Mboko, and Aguilar are additionally all competing once more, searching for a second title in as many weeks.  

You’ll be able to comply with the Canadians in motion each week right here.  

Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Spherical tie between Canada and Hungary are actually on sale. Be a part of us February 1 and a pair of at IGA Stadium in Montreal, because the Canadian workforce begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Remaining 8. To entry tickets at early-bird pricing, click on right here.