Week one of the 2026 grass season could have gone better for the Canadians, although Leylah Annie Fernandez did make it to finals Sunday.
The Lavalloise’s appearance in the Queen’s Club doubles final was the best result for a Canuck last week and was symbolic of a week where generally, doubles proved more forgiving than singles.
Here’s what you need to know.
In Case You Missed It: Fernandez Reaches Queen’s Final, Mboko’s Grass Season Over
The first week of the grass season was shaping up to be a busy one for the Canadians, with eight in action across four ATP and WTA events. However, it was a challenging start, with the seven singles players combining for just one match win.
However, they had more success in doubles, with Leylah Annie Fernandez reaching the final at the WTA 500 HSBC Championships. Fernandez did get a little lucky in that run, though, benefitting from walkovers in both the quarter and semifinals after she and Laura Siegemund defeated Alexandra Panova and Demi Schuurs in the first round.
In the final, the Canadian-German duo were edged out by Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls 10-5 in the match tiebreak. It was Fernandez’s first doubles final in almost two years.
One of the two walkovers Fernandez received was from her countrywoman Victoria Mboko. The 19-year-old had a bad fall during her opening singles match against Karolina Pliskova and was forced to retire from singles and withdraw from doubles. Mboko later revealed on social media that she suffered an injury to her MCL and will miss the remainder of the grass season, including Wimbledon.
Mboko had been playing doubles with Serena Williams. The 44-year-old was playing her first event since coming out of retirement and the pair caused a stir at the Queen’s Club, upsetting third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in the first round before Mboko had to pull out ahead of their second match.
Gabriela Dabrowski was also competing at Queen’s. She and Luisa Stefani won their opening match over Miyu Kato and Liudmila Samsonova before being upset in the second round by Iva Jovic and McCartney Kessler.
Fernandez lost her first-round singles match to Katie Boulter in three tight sets.
Bianca Andreescu was the only Canadian woman competing at the 250-level Libema Open in s-Hertogenbosch but lost in the first round of singles to Elise Mertens and second round of doubles with Lois Boisson to Shuko Aoyama and En Shuo Liang.
On the men’s side at the Libema Open, Félix Auger-Aliassime picked up the only singles match win by a Canadian in his second-round match (after a first-round bye) by defeating Marton Fucsovics in straight sets. However, he was upset in the quarter-finals by the eventual surprise champion Kamil Majchrzak.
Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo both lost their respective first-round matches to Marin Cilic and Adrian Mannarino 7-5 in the third set.
All three Canadian men picked up wins in doubles, with Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov teaming up for a first-round victory over Petr Nouza and Neil Oberleitner before Shapovalov withdrew ahead of the quarter-finals. Diallo and Hubert Hurkacz upset third seeds Yuki Bhambri and Michael Venus in the first round before bowing out 10-7 in the match tiebreak of their quarter-final against Sander Arends and David Pel.
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Alexis Galarneau competed in his first ATP Tour main draw on grass last week at the 250 event in Stuttgart, winning a pair of qualifying matches to reach the main draw. He lost a hard-fought first-round match to Jan-Lennard Struff in three sets.
What to Watch: Shapovalov, Diallo on Queen’s Collision Course
Denis Shapovalov and Gabriel Diallo could meet in round two at the Queen’s Club this week, but top seed Alex de Minaur threatens to spoil the party. Diallo opens against the Aussie, with the winner playing Shapovalov, who overcame Jack Pinnington Jones in a three-setter on Monday.
Félix Auger-Aliassime wasted little time in putting his surprise loss at the Libema Open behind him, kicking off the ATP 500 event in Halle with a hard-fought win on Monday morning over the tricky Nuno Borges in three sets. The Montrealer is the second seed in Halle and will meet Learner Tien in the second round.
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If he reaches the quarter-finals, Auger-Aliassime could have a shot at revenge for the French Open quarter-finals against sixth seed Flavio Cobolli.
Leylah Annie Fernandez is the lone Canadian woman competing this week. She is the second seed in the Nottingham singles draw, although she is the highest-ranked player in the draw after the last-minute withdrawal of Iva Jovic.
Zeynep Sonmez is up first for Fernandez, with Viktorija Golubic or Sofia Kenin the potential round-two opponents. No. 5 seed Ann Li is the Canadian’s projected quarter-final opponent.
The Lavalloise is also competing in doubles alongside Yuliia Starodubtseva. They are playing Eri Hozumi and Fang Hsien Wu in the first round, with second seed Shuko Aoyama and Hao Ching Chan looming in the quarter-finals.
Under the Radar: Dobreva Wins First Title
20-year-old Mariya Dobreva lifted her first professional trophy over the weekend, claiming the W15 doubles title in Kayseri, Turkey, with Nikol Mircheva.
The pair lost just one set in their run, in the semifinals against second seeds Sandugash Kenzhibayeva and Daria Shubina, capping it off with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Zeynep Ilker and Elena Utkina.
Sasha Vagramov had a strong performance at the W15 event in Los Angeles, reaching the singles semifinals and the doubles final with Salma Ewing. However, the pair were beaten in the title match 10-8 in the match tiebreak by Capucine Jauffret and Kristina Penickova.
Vagramov will be one of nine Canadians competing this week at a W15/M15 event in Irvine, California. Dobreva will look to go back-to-back in Kayseri, where she and four Canadian men are competing at the W15/M15 event.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
The Davis Cup is coming to Quebec City September 18 and 19 as Team Canada hosts France in the Davis Cup Qualifiers Second Round. Tickets are on sale now. CLICK HERE TO BUY YOUR TICKETS!
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
