Photo : Mauricio Paiz
Félix Auger-Aliassime will be the 11th seed, Milos Raonic continues his comeback and Carol Zhao qualifies for first Grand Slam main draw of career
The main draws are set for the third Grand Slam of the season, with nine Canadians set to hit the grass courts at Wimbledon. The 2023 singles main draw will feature seven Canadians, as Bianca Andreescu, Rebecca Marino, Leylah Annie Fernandez, Carol Zhao, Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov and Milos Raonic will compete at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Gabriela Dabrowski and Fernandez will participate in women’s doubles, and Rob Shaw will play in the quad division.
On the women’s side, Andreescu (no. 51) will duke it out with Anna Bondar (no. 109) in the opening round. This marks the fourth time the 23-year-old will play in Wimbledon, where she will be looking to secure her second-career Grand Slam title. The Mississauga native was drawn into the same quarter as world no. 3 Elena Ryabinka and sixth seed Ons Jabeur and could have to face Jabeur in the third round.
Vancouver’s Marino (no. 83) will make her third career appearance in the Wimbledon main draw, with a first-round matchup against Irina-Camelia Begu (no. 29). Marino has been playing some great tennis as of late, reaching her first quarter-final of the season in Birmingham earlier in June. Marino’s path for a lengthy run could include matchups against world no. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round and then world no. 16 Karolina Muchova in the fourth round.
Fernandez (no. 96) made her debut at Wimbledon last year as an unseeded participant, losing to Jelena Ostapenko in the first round. This year, she’ll face Kateryna Baindl (no. 86) in the first round. The 20-year-old is in the same quarter of the draw as Jessica Pegula (no. 4), Caroline Garcia (no. 5) and Veronika Kudermetova (no. 12). If Fernandez advances to the second round, she’ll have to face off against Garcia. The Quebec native will also play in the doubles portion of the tournament alongside her American partner Taylor Townsend. The pair have had tremendous success since pairing up, reaching the final at the French Open but coming up just short of winning. The duo enters Wimbledon as the sixth seed and will face off against Americans Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns in the opening round.
READ: ZHAO QUALIFIES FOR FIRST GRAND SLAM AT WIMBLEDON
Zhao qualified for the singles main draw by defeating Coco Vandeweghe in her third qualifying match. This marks the first main draw Grand Slam appearance of the 28-year-old’s career. The Richmond Hill native is ranked No. 166 on the WTA Tour and will face off against Lucky Loser Tamara Korpatsch (no. 120) in the first round. Zhao is in the same quarter of the draw as Andreescu, and a potential run could include early clashes against Karolina Pliskova (no. 18) and Petra Kvitova (no. 9).
On the men’s side, Auger-Aliassime enters the tournament this year as the No. 11 seed and will face Filip Krajinovic (no. 204) in the first round. The Quebecer is in the same quarter of the draw as reigning Wimbledon champ Novak Djokovic and seventh seed Andrey Rublev. In a potential path to the final, he could have to face Nick Kyrgios or Rublev before a potential matchup with Djokovic in the quarter-finals. In 2022, Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the first round after losing to Maxime Cressy having reached the quarter-finals in 2021.
The No. 26 seed this year, Shapovalov will take on qualifier Radu Albot (no. 106) in the first round. The Richmond Hill, Ontario native has a tough road in front of him, as he was drawn into the same quarter as fourth seed Casper Ruud, eighth seed Jannik Sinner, ninth seed Taylor Fritz and 13th seed Borna Coric. After reaching the semi-finals in 2021, a career-best performance at a Grand Slam, if Shapovalov is to make a similar run he could have to overcome a third-round clash with Ruud.
Raonic, who recently returned to the ATP Tour after nearly two years, will be playing at Wimbledon for the first time since 2019. With a first-round match against qualifier Dennis Novak (no. 159), Raonic was also drawn into a tough quarter alongside fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, Cameron Norrie (no. 13), Tommy Paul (no. 17) and Daniil Medvedev (no. 3). The 32-year-old has had tremendous success at the tournament in the past, making the final in 2016, the semi-finals in 2014 and the quarter-finals in 2017 and 2018. This year, a path to the final could include a second-round matchup with Paul.
In doubles, Dabrowski will team up with Aleksandra Krunic, a new partner for the Ottawa native. The pair will take on American Lauren Davis and from the Netherlands Rosalie Van Der Hoek in the opening round, and could find themselves playing Fernandez and Townsend in the third round. Dabrowski has had ample success in doubles at Wimbledon over the years, making the final in 2019, the semi-finals in 2018 and the third-round last year.
In addition, North Bay’s Shaw will play in the quad division event as the world No. 7 in quads. This marks Shaw’s first-ever appearance at Wimbledon, and his fourth at a Grand Slam. After this appearance, he will have played at every Grand Slam event. The draw for the quad division will take place on July 11.
