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NEW YORK

A number of Canadians were in doubles action at the US Open on Friday. Gabriela Dabrowski was successful in her first round match playing alongside her partner Yifan Xu of China. The tournament’s third seeds and recent Wimbledon finalists got off to a great start by eliminating Lidziya Marozava of Belarus and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia in straight sets 7-5. 6-4. Up next, Dabrowski and Xu will face Americans Kristie Ahn and Christina McHale.

Denis Shapovalov also moved past the opening round with his partner Rohan Bopanna of India. The duo, who are teaming up for the sixth time this year, were taking on tough opponents in the French team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, the tournament’s fourth seeds. Far from being intimidated, Shapovalov and Bopana excelled in their service and return game, winning 73% of the points on first serve while also breaking their opponents seven times to take the match by a score of 6-3, 6-1.

The all-Canadian team of Bianca Andreescu and Sharon Fichman were unable to replicate the success of their compatriots and fell to Americans Whitney Osuigwe and Taylor Townsend in straight sets by a score of 6-2, 6-3. Playing together for the first time in their careers, the Canadians experienced some difficulties while on serve, managing to only win 43 points compared to 61 for their rivals.

Photo : Mauricio Paiz

Vasek Pospisil, who was playing alongside Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, was also unable to move beyond the first round in doubles, falling to the brother team of Bob and Mike Bryan of the United States, the seventh seeds. Despite their valiant efforts, Pospisil and Hurkacz were defeated by a score of 6-3, 7-6(3).

 

(Feature photo : Mauricio Paiz)

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