Monday Digest: Dabrowski Leads Remaining Canadians at Australian Open

Week one of the Australian Open for the Canadians had its highs and lows, except for Gabriela Dabrowski for whom it was all success. 

The first major of the year did not go great for the singles contingent from the Great White North, but there is plenty to cheer for in week two at Melbourne Park. 

Here’s what you need to know. 

In Case You Missed It: Singles Swept Aside 

Competing in both women’s and mixed doubles, Gabriela Dabrowski is 4-0 (plus one walkover) so far at the Australian Open and is through to the quarter-finals of both draws. 

Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, the fourth seeds, kicked off their campaigns with a straight-set win over Linda Fruhvirtova and Ashlyn Krueger and then got a free pass to the third round when Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova withdrew. 

The US Open champion had to battle in the last sixteen but managed to rally from a set down to defeat the Chinese pair of Hanyu Guo and Xinyu Jiang to book their spot in the quarter-finals. 

In the mixed doubles, she and partner Nathaniel Lammons cruised through their first two matches without being pushed particularly hard in any of the four sets they have played. 

All five Canadians competing in singles were eliminated in the first week. 

Félix Auger-Aliassime was the last one standing and the only one to reach the third round. He scored two gritty but impressive wins over Dominic Thiem and Hugo Grenier but came up short once again against his nemesis Daniil Medvedev.  

Leylah Annie Fernandez was the only other Canadian to get a singles win, kicking off her campaign with a strong victory over Sara Bejlek before crashing out to Alycia Parks in round two. 

Read Also: Australian Open Men’s Power Rankings

Milos Raonic and Rebecca Marino both fell in the first round against Top 10 opponents. Marino was beaten in straight sets by No. 5 Jessica Pegula, while Raonic retired in the third set after splitting the first two with No. 10 Alex de Minaur. 

Denis Shapovalov was beaten in his first-round match by qualifier Jakub Mensik.  

The junior competitions began over the weekend and Canada’s Keegan Rice won his opening matches in both singles and doubles. In singles, he upset the 15^th seed Pedro Rodrigues in straight sets. 

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What to Watch: Three Canadians left at Australian Open 

Dabrowski has her eyes on a second straight women’s doubles Grand Slam title and a second and even third trophy in Melbourne. She won the mixed doubles in 2018. 

She and Routliffe are the highest-seeded team left in the top half of the women’s draw. Next up for the fourth seeds are Cristina Busca and Alexandra Panova in the quarter-finals. With a win, they would meet either the 11^th seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok and Jelena Ostapenko or the all-French pair of Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic for a spot in the final. 

All four teams left in the bottom half of the draw are seeded, including the second and third-seeded pairs. 

Next up for Dabrowski in the mixed doubles is the all-Aussie wildcard pair of Olivia Gadecki and Marc Polmans. If she and Lammons win, they would meet either the second seeds Desirae Krawczyk and Neal Skupski or the all-British team of Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury.  

Read Also: Dabrowski Impressing at the Australian Open

Keegan Rice will look to reach the third round of a junior Grand Slam for the first time. In singles, he plays qualifier Anas Mazdrashki. A win could see him face second seed Nicolai Budkov Kjaer in the last sixteen. 

In doubles, Rice and American partner Roy Horovitz face Timofei Derepasko and Daniil Sarkasian for a spot in the quarter-finals, where they could face the third seeds Hayden Jones and Alexander Razeghi. 

Rob Shaw joins the fray in the quad wheelchair competition this week. In singles, he faces wildcard Finn Broadbent in the first round. He could play No. 4 seed Guy Sasson in the quarter-finals and top seed Niels Vink in the semis. 

Seeded second in doubles with Heath Davidson, Shaw opens against Broadbent again and his partner Gregory Slade in the three-round event.  

Under the Radar: First Winner of 2024 

At the ITF Wheelchair event in Arizona, Mitch McIntyre won the quad doubles title alongside American partner Andrew Bogdanov. It’s the seventh ITF doubles title of McIntyre’s career. He also reached the final of the quad singles, butit was cancelled due to the rain.   

Barry Henderson, Thomas Venos, and Natalia Lanucha all reached the quarter-finals of their respective singles events. Lanucha and Anne-Marie Dolinar reached the women’s doubles semifinals together, while Venos got to the final four with Japanese partner Shogo Takano. 

On the junior circuit, Naomi Xu reached the final of the J100 event in San Jose but lost to Krisha Mahendran in straight sets. 

Liam Draxl reached his first ATP Challenger quarter-final of 2024 last week in Buenos Aires, losing to the eventual champion Facundo Bagnis. Isabelle Boulais had the best result on the ITF circuit by a Canadian, reaching the quarter-finals at the W35 event in Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe. 

This week, Gabriel Diallo is back on the ATP Challenger Tour at an event in Quimper, France. Vasek Pospisil, who won Quimper in 2022, is competing along with Benjamin Sigouin at a Challenger in California.  

The wheelchair tour moves to Indian Wells this week with McIntyre, Dolinar, Lanucha, and Venos all competing. 

You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.