There was a time when it was rare for there even to be a Canadian at all in a Grand Slam singles main draw. Wow, have times changed.
At the upcoming US Open, there will not only be five Canadians receiving direct entry into the main draw at the year’s final major, but all five will be seeded. It is the first time that five Canadians are seeded in singles at the same Grand Slam event.
Félix Auger-Aliassime (27), Denis Shapovalov (29), and Gabriel Diallo (31) are competing in the men’s singles event, while Victoria Mboko (22) and Leylah Annie Fernandez (31) are in the women’s competition.
The draw for the 2025 US Open was unveiled on Thursday, with the five Canadians learning their paths in New York.
Fresh off her stunning victory at the National Bank Open in Montreal, Mboko will be making her US Open debut next week. It will just be her third appearance in a Grand Slam main draw and first where she did not have to participate in qualifying. The teen’s first direct acceptance into a major will be in style as she will also be seeded for the first time at a WTA Tour-level event. At No. 22, Mboko is the highest-seeded Canadian singles player, male or female.
Read also: Victoria Mboko’s Historic Montreal Title Run By the Numbers
In her first match in New York, Mboko will have to take yet another Grand Slam singles champion, Barbora Krejcikova. The teen’s first potential seeded opponent is 2024 US Open semifinalist Emma Navarro, the 10th seed this year, in round three. A win there could set up a battle of teen sensations against No. 5 Mirra Andreeva.
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula is the highest seed in Mboko’s quarter, and they are in the top half of the draw with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Fernandez will be looking to re-find the form that saw her win the biggest title of her career in July at the WTA 500 event in Washington. She opens against a qualifier and would face either Elsa Jacquemot or Marie Bouzkova in the second round. Waiting in round three is likely to be the defending champion Sabalenka.
Read also: WTA Power Rankings - Can the Stars Bounce Back at the US Open?
If she caused the upset of the tournament, potential other seeds in her path include No. 14 Clara Tauson (R4), No. 7 Jasmina Paolini (QF) and No. 9 Elena Rybakina (QF).
Since her dramatic run to the US Open final in 2021, the Lavalloise has gone 1-3 in New York, losing in the first round the last two years.
Auger-Aliassime leads the Canadian men, all of whom are in the top half of the draw with world No.1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner, and also opens against a qualifier or lucky loser. He will face a dangerous veteran in round two, either Gael Monfils or Roman Safiullin, before potentially clashing with world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in the third round. Even if he causes that upset, there are plenty of in-form players in his quarter including No. 15 Andrey Rublev (R4), No. 8 Alex de Minaur (QF), and Toronto runner-up Karen Khachanov (QF).
Like Fernandez, Auger-Aliassime had his best Grand Slam result at the 2021 US Open, reaching the semfinals, but has also gone 1-3 with back-to-back first-round losses since at Flushing Meadows.
Shapovalov is another Canadian looking to refind his title-winning form from July but has a brutal first-round draw against the powerful Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, who is vicious on fast hard courts. The pair have split four previous meetings on tour, all on hard courts. Shapovalov won the most recent meeting last fall in Belgrade on his way to the title, but Fucsovics won their lone previous meeting at a Grand Slam at the 2020 Australian Open. Their last three meetings at regular ATP Tour events all went three sets.
If he survives that test, Shapovalov would meet either Valentin Royer or Yunchaokete Bu in the second round, with the top seed Sinner almost certainly waiting in round three. Interestingly, the Canadian and Italian have only met once before, also at a hard-court major, and it was Shapovalov getting the win in five sets at the 2021 Australian Open.
The Richmond Hillian had a strong start to his career at the US Open, reaching at least the third round in his first six appearances at the event. However, he missed the 2023 edition and lost in the first round in 2024.
Diallo returns to the site of his major breakthrough a year ago looking for even more. At the 2024 US Open, the Montrealer won his first Grand Slam matches, including an upset of No. 24 seed Arthur Fils, on his way to the third round, his best result to-date at a major. Diallo has won at least one match at each of the last four Grand Slam events.
Returning as a seed this year, he is also in Sinner’s quarter but is on the far side. He kicks off his campaign against Damir Dzumhur and would face either Jaume Munar or a qualifier/lucky loser in round two. In the third round, he is projected to meet fifth seed and 2024 semifinalist Jack Draper. However, the Brit has not played a match since Wimbledon due to injury.
Read also: Dabrowski Earns First WTA 1000 Title of the Year in Cincinnati
Should he get to round four, Diallo could hit a run of Italians. No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti and No. 24 Flavio Cobolli are the two seeds he could meet in the last sixteen, followed by Sinner in the quarter-finals.
Three Canadian women could join their compatriots in the main draw. Rebecca Marino, Carol Zhao, and Cadence Brace are all still alive in qualifying as of Thursday.
The doubles draw will take place next week. Play gets underway in New York on Sunday.
Feature Photo : Sarah-Jade Champagne
