Photo : Martin Sidorjak
Canadian tennis fans may be used to seeing the name “Fernandez” in their news feeds. The name Bianca too. But it is neither Leylah Annie Fernandez nor Bianca Andreescu who is making a climb in the NCAA rankings.
That would be Leylah’s little sister, who happens to share a first name with the former Canadian US Open champion.
Let’s catch up with the latest news from Canadians competing in the NCAA.
Women
Over the last month, Bianca Jolie Fernandez has clawed her way up into the Top 70 of the NCAA singles rankings, sitting as of this week at No. 65. That’s good enough to slot her in as the No. 2 Canadian in the American collegiate system.
The UCLA Bruin has 15-7 record in 2024 and has won four of her last six matches.
While Fernandez normally plays in the No. 3 singles spot for UCLA, she is a perfect 4-0 when called upon to step up and play in the second position for her school, including a recent 6-2, 6-2 win over Nina Geissler of Oregon in the No. 2 spot.
Fernandez is gaining ground on Mia Kupres for the top spot amongst the Canadian women. The Texas A&M product currently sits at No. 46 and recently had a seven-match winning streak, which was only snapped on Monday in a match against the University of Georgia.
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Kupres is still the top Canadian woman in the doubles rankings, coming in at No. 7. She and Mary Stoiana have won three of their last four and were a game away from another win on Monday against Georgia before the match was abandoned. Over the last month, Kupres was ranked as high as No. 3 in the women’s doubles.
Joining Kupres in the Top 10 of the doubles is Melodie Collard, who was ranked eighth last week before slipping to No. 10 in the April 23 rankings. Collard and Elaine Chervinsky are the regular No. 1 pair for the University of Virginia and have gone 6-3 over the last month.
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After cementing herself as the University of Arizona’s No. 1 singles player, Reece Carter entered the NCAA rankings and currently sits at No. 111. Alexia Jacobs, the regular No. 2 at the University of Washington, also got onto the list at No. 99.
Men
Putting together all the different disciplines, Canada has a new top player in the NCAA: Joshua Lapadat.
The Kentucky Wildcat currently sits at No. 4 in the men’s doubles rankings alongside JJ Mercer. Over the last month, the pair have gone 7-1 and are 9-1 over their last ten doubles matches.
Lapadat and Mercer have played every match in the No. 1 doubles spot for Kentucky this season and boast an impressive 15-4 record.
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The back-and-forth between Justin Boulais and Taha Baadi, Lapadat’s Kentucky teammate, for the top Canadian men’s singles spot has continued over the last month. Boulais of Ohio State came into the week a few spots ahead but with the new rankings on April 23, Baadi leapfrogged his countryman to sit as the Canadian singles No. 1 at No. 30.
Boulais is just a step behind at No. 33.
Click here to view all the Canadian rankings in the NCAA.
