Photo : @AbiertoLosCabos
Canadians Félix Auger-Aliassime and Rebecca Marino kicked off the summer hard court season this week by posting a pair of strong results in Los Cabos and Washington.
At the ATP Tour 250 event in Los Cabos, Mexico, Auger-Aliassime, seeded second in the tournament, won two matches to reach the semifinals before falling to third-seeded Brit Cameron Norrie 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 on Friday night. Norrie will face World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev for the title on Saturday.
Meanwhile, at the WTA 250 event in Washington, Marino had an impressive run to the quarterfinals. After playing her qualifying to earn a spot in the main draw, she knocked out Venus Williams in the opening round, successfully avenging her 2010 U.S. Open defeat at the hands of the American tennis legend. The 31-year-old was beaten 6-1, 7-5 by Aussie Daria Saville in the final eight.
Both players were able to gain some valuable confidence and momentum with their performances this week as they head to the National Bank Open presented by Rogers which gets underway on Monday. In Montreal, Auger-Aliassime is seeded sixth and will face a qualifier in his first match. In Toronto, Marino will meet Qinwen Zheng of China in the opening round.
At the WTA 500 event in San Jose, California, Gabriela Dabrowski has advanced to the semifinals in doubles with her partner Giuliana Olmos. They will face Shuko Aoyama and Hao-Ching Chan on Saturday.