Photo : Martin Sidorjak
Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will be the sixth and 13th seeds respectively
The main draws are set for the third Grand Slam of the season. The 2022 Wimbledon singles main draw will feature four Canadians, as Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu and Rebecca Marino are all set to compete on the grass courts of the All England Club. Gabriela Dabrowski will also participate in doubles, the Ontarian being the sole Canadian representative this time around in this category.
Ranked as the sixth seed this year, the Quebecer, Auger-Aliassime, will face American Maxime Cressy in the first round. In addition to Cressy, Auger-Aliassime is in the same quarter of the draw as American Taylor Fritz (no.11), the young Danish sensation Holger Rune (no.24) and Briton Daniel Evans (no.28). On the way to the final, he could also face the 22-time Grand Slam champion, Rafael Nadal. Last year, the Canadian reached the quarter-finals before being defeated by the Italian, Matteo Berrettini, in four sets (3-6, 7-5, 5-7, 3-6).
13th-seeded Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ontario, will look to top his tremendous showing last year when he lost in the semi-finals to then-world no.1 Novak Djokovic. His first-round rival will be the Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech. His potential run at the tournament could include clashes against Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (no.17), Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece (no.4) and the fearsome player on grass Berrettini (no.8).
On the women’s side, Andreescu (no.64) will be making her second consecutive appearance in the Wimbledon main draw. The Mississauga native, who has never made it past the first round at the All England Club, will certainly be pumped for her first match against the American qualifier, Emina Bektas. During her potential run to the championship match, Andreescu could face off against the Spaniard Garbine Muguruza (no.9), American Jessica Pegula (no.8) and the no.1 player on the Hologic WTA Tour, Polish superstar Iga Swiatek.
British Columbia’s Marino (no. 107) will also make her first appearance in the main draw at Wimbledon since 2011 where she reached the second round after beating Austria’s Patricia Mayr-Achleitner at the start of the competition. This time, she will enter the tournament against Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa (no.132). She will potentially have quite the challenge in the next round since she could come across Tunisian and tournament third seed Ons Jabeur. Other possible opponents on her way: Estonian Kaia Kanepi (no.31) Germany’s Angelique Kerber (no.15) and American Danielle Collins (no.7).
Finally, in doubles, Dabrowski will once again join forces with Mexican Giuliana Olmos to try to win another title this year, the duo having been crowned in Madrid last May. Seeded third, they are among the tournament favorites and they both will be looking for their first Grand Slam title in women’s doubles.
