What a weekend that was for Canadian tennis!
A record-breaking performance in Montpellier and a winning return to the west coast for Team Canada grabbed the headlines, but the nation’s rising young star introduced herself to the Middle East as well.
Here’s what you need to know.
What to Watch: Mboko Faces Tough Road in Doha
The draw at the first WTA 1000 event of the season, the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha, was not kind to the No. 10 seed Victoria Mboko, but the young Canadian managed to overcome her first challenge on Sunday. The teen won a topsy-turvy match with Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 6-2 to score a win in her event debut.
Mboko broke serve six times in the win, although she dropped her own serve three times. She broke late to take the opening set but then quickly fell behind 2-0 in the second. However, the teen turned on the jets, winning the last six games in a row to advance.
Next up is veteran Vera Zvonareva, who is a three-time major champion in doubles. If Mboko wins, she could get a rematch with fellow teen sensation Mirra Andreeva, who won their finals clash in Adelaide, in the third round. Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina will likely be waiting in the quarter-finals if Mboko gets her revenge over Andreeva.
Leylah Annie Fernandez’s singles campaign in Doha came to an early end at the hands of Ann Li. The Lavalloise was beaten 6-4, 6-3 by the American in the first round.
Read also: Andreeva, Mboko, and Jovic Lead WTA’s Teen Titans
However, Fernandez did pick up a win in her first-round doubles match on Monday. Playing alongside Kristina Mladenovic, they defeated Xinyu Wang and Saisai Zheng in straight sets to set up a second-round clash with fourth seeds Anna Danilina and Aleksandra Krunic.
Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani continued their strong reunion in Doha, beating Irina Khromacheva and Aldila Sutjiadi in straight sets in the first round of the doubles. The fifth seeds are waiting to see who they play next. They could face second seeds Elise Mertens and Shuai Zhang in the quarter-finals.
One of the most intriguing stories in the Doha doubles draw was the pairing of Mboko and singles world No. 5 Coco Gauff. However, it was short-lived as the two young stars were beaten 11-9 in the match tiebreak in their first-round match by Cristina Busca and Nicole Melichar-Martinez.
A week after Félix Auger-Aliassime completed a successful title defence, Denis Shapovalov will be looking to do the same this week in Dallas. The Canadian No. 2 returns to Texas looking to defend the biggest title of his career after his spectacular performance a year ago.
Read also: Canada Completes Great Escape at Davis Cup in Vancouver
This time around, he is the seventh seed and will open against Spanish qualifier Rafael Jodar. If he wins, the Canadian is guaranteed to play an American in round two, either Aleksandar Kovacevic or Reilly Opelka. He is in the same quarter as No. 3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The biggest matchup of the first round in Dallas involves another Canadian, Gabriel Diallo. The giant Montrealer was drawn against second seed Ben Shelton in the first round. Shelton won their lone previous meeting in an ATP Tour event last year in Washington, although Diallo does have a win over the American on the ATP Challenger Tour back in 2022.
Both Canadians are in the bottom half of the draw.
Canada’s Duncan Chan will make his ATP Tour debut in doubles in Dallas this week, partnering Frenchman Cosme Rolland de Ravel. They open against Constantin Frantzen and Robin Haase and could face top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the second round.
Auger-Aliassime will look to stay hot in Rotterdam but faces a difficult draw at the ATP 500 event. He opens against former National Bank Open champion Alexei Popyrin and would face a dangerous opponent, either Zizou Bergs or Fabian Marozsan, in the second round. His projected quarter-final opponent is No. 7 seed Tallon Griekspoor.
Click here for more news from the ATP and WTA Tours.
In Case You Missed It: History for Auger-Aliassime, Team Canada Grits Past Brazil
Canada has a new singles title leader: Félix Auger-Aliassime. The 25-year-old broke a tie with Milos Raonic for the most singles titles by a Canadian on Sunday, claiming his ninth ATP Tour singles title at the Open Occitanie in Montpellier.
It was a successful title defence for Auger-Aliassime, who dropped just one set on his way to victory. He beat Stan Wawrinka before knocking off three consecutive Frenchmen, Arthur Fils, Titouan Droguet, and Adrian Mannarino, to claim his first title of 2026.
With the win, the Montrealer is back up to No. 6 in the world.
It was a good weekend for the Canadian men in general, as Canada’s Davis Cup team was victorious in their Qualifiers First Round tie in Vancouver.
Team Canada mounted a day two comeback as Gabriel Diallo and Liam Draxl won the last two singles matches to lift Canada past Brazil 3-2. Canada will host France in the Qualifiers Second Round in September.
CLICK HERE for all the details about Canada’s Davis Cup tie against Brazil.
Leylah Annie Fernandez competed in Abu Dhabi last week, beating Chloe Paquet to reach the second round in singles, where she lost to McCartney Kessler. The Canadian lost in the first round of the doubles.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
