Carson Branstine has had no luck with draws at tour-level events in her career. Next week, she will be competing in her second top-level main draw and for the second time, she will face the first seed. This time around, it is world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in what will be the 24-year-old's first-ever main-draw match at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
Five Canadians, including Branstine, will be competing in singles at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, which gets underway on Monday. Joining Branstine on the women’s side is Leylah Annie Fernandez, while Félix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, and Gabriel Diallo are all entered in the men’s draw.
Branstine was the lone Canadian to come through qualifying. She went on an incredible run to get into the main draw at the All-England Club, beating the top seed and Roland-Garros semifinalist Lois Boisson, countrywoman and former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, and Raluka Serban to qualify for her first major.
Even if she causes the upset of the year and takes out Sabalenka in round one, the road will not get much easier for Branstine. In round two, she would face a former Wimbledon quarter-finalist no matter what, either Marie Bouzkova or Lulu Sun. Her potential round three opponents include 32nd seed and Nottingham champion McCartney Kessler, Berlin champion and 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, or home-favourite and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu.
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The draw was unkind to all of the Canadians. Every one of them could play a Top 6 player within the first three rounds.
Fernandez is in the same quarter of the draw as Branstine, only at the other end. She is seeded 29th and faces local wildcard Hannah Klugman, ranked 557th in the world, in the first round. She would have a tricky second-round opponent in the form of either Peyton Stearns, who leads her head-to-head with Fernandez 2-1, or Laura Siegemund before potentially facing off with sixth seed and Australian Open champion Madison Keys in round three.
Were they to meet in the third round, it is worth noting that Fernandez and Keys have split their previous two meetings, with the Canadian’s win coming last year on grass in Eastbourne.
If the Lavalloise sneaks through that section, her possible round four opponents include No. 9 Paula Badosa and No. 22 Donna Vekic before meeting whoever comes out of that loaded Branstine/Sabalenka section in the quarter-finals.
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The two seeded Canadian men, Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov, could not have landed in worse spots in the draw as they are projected to meet the top two seeds in the third round.
Auger-Aliassime, the 25th seed, is in line to meet world No. 2 and two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. To get there, he first has to beat James Duckworth, whom the Canadian has never lost a set to in two tour-level meetings, in the first round followed by either Jan-Lennard Struff or Filip Misolic, who beat Shapovalov at Roland-Garros.
If he gets there, it would be a first meeting on grass with Alcaraz. The Spaniard leads their head-to-head 4-3, having won the last four clashes in a row.
The Montrealer has not won a match at Wimbledon since reaching the quarter-finals in 2021 but is arriving at the All-England Club in good form after semifinal appearances in both Stuttgart and Mallorca.
Shapovalov, the 27th seed, is on a collision course with world No. 1 Jannik Sinner. To reach that round-three clash, he will have to overcome Mariano Navone in the first round followed by either Pedro Martinez, who the Canadian cruised past at Roland-Garros, or local wildcard George Loffhagen.
Interestingly, Shapovalov won his lone previous meeting with Sinner on tour, a five-setter at the Australian Open. However, that win came back in 2021, long before the Italian’s breakthrough.
Gabriel Diallo is unseeded and opens against Daniel Altmaier. The German won their lone previous clash at the Davis Cup last fall in Malaga. If he gets revenge, the Canadian’s reward will likely be a matchup with fifth seed and Stuttgart champion Taylor Fritz.
A round-two upset over the American No. 1 would open the door a bit for the Canadian, whose next projected seeded opponent would be No. 26 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in round three, followed by No. 9 Daniil Medvedev in round four. He is in the third quarter of the draw with No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
This will be Diallo’s first main-draw appearance at the All-England Club, the last major where he is making his debut. He arrives in great form, having picked up his first career ATP Tour title on grass earlier this month in s-Hertogenbosch and also reached the quarter-finals of Mallorca.
Six Canadians lost in qualifying: Victoria Mboko, Bianca Andreescu, Alexis Galarneau, Kayla Cross, Liam Draxl, and Rebecca Marino.
Gabriela Dabrowski will look to reach her second straight Wimbledon final over the coming fortnight, having finished as the runner-up last year. She and Erin Routliffe are the second seeds and open their campaign against Xinyu Wang and Saisai Zheng.
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Their first potential seeded opponents are No. 13 Irina Khromcheva and Fanny Stollar in the third round. They are in the same quarter as eighth seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Elise Mertens and in the bottom half of the draw with third seeds and Roland-Garros champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.
Fernandez is also competing in doubles, joining forces with Lulu Sun. They open against sixth seeds Asia Muhammad and Demi Schuurs. They are in the same quarter as Errani and Paolini.
Diallo is the lone Canadian man playing doubles. He is teaming up with Zizou Bergs, who the Canadian actually beat to win the Libema Open earlier in June. They kick off their campaign against 11th seeds Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul and could meet eighth seeds Nikola Metkic and Michael Venus in round three.
The other draws at Wimbledon, including mixed doubles and juniors, have not yet been made. Play begins at the All-England Club on Monday, June 30.
Feature Photo : Wimbledon Images via ITF
