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Canada’s Milos Raonic celebrates after defeating Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne

Tennis Canada is holding its annual Fan Gala, and you have until December 19 to vote for your favourite moments in Canadian tennis from the past season. What was the most touching event? Who went head-to-head in the match of the year? It’s all up to YOU!

Here are the nominees for Match of the Year.

1- Bianca Andreescu vs Serena Williams – US Open final

Canada’s tennis darling was FIRE in her very first main draw at the US Open.

She kicked off a winning streak, crushing Wozniacki (19), Mertens (25) and Bencic (13), and played her way to her first Grand Slam final (!). There, she collided with none other than Serena Williams for the second time in a month.

The match had us sitting on the edge of our seats and hoping the competition wouldn’t fizzle out with a retirement like it had in Toronto.

Relying on her powerful forehand and capitalizing on Serena’s shaky game, Bianca quickly claimed the first set and got up 5-1 in the second.

Serena thrilled fans as she fought her way to 5-5, but our Canadian hero seized her chance on her third championship point to become our nation’s first Grand Slam titleholder.

Ah-mazing!

2- Milos Raonic vs Stan Wawrinka – Australian Open 2nd round

4 sets, 4 tiebreaks, 4 hours.

That pretty much sums up the confrontation between Milos Raonic and Stan Wawrinka in round 2 of the 2019 Australian Open.

Coming off a long hiatus spent recovering from two knee surgeries in summer 2017, Stan the Man (No.59) was out to find the form that earned him the crown in Melbourne in 2014.

As for Milos, he was forced to admit that his indoor record was better than his record outdoors and joked that he won because organizers were forced to close the arena roof due to rain.

Though he dropped the first set, Raonic dominated the winners (84 vs 66) and aces (39) columns. The intensity and adrenaline of the struggle helped him forget the time and fatigue and focus on winning 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 7-6(11), 7-6(5).

We hadn’t seen such a fierce battle in a long time!

3- Denis Shapovalov vs Gaël Monfils – US Open 3rd round

After overpowering Félix Auger-Aliassime and Henri Laaksonen, Denis Shapovalov was pitted against Gaël Monfils in the third round of the US Open.

Clinching the first set in a tiebreak thanks to an aggressive net game, Denis played his heart out against the crafty Frenchman. Always finding ways to bounce back after falling behind, the Canadian fought off a match point in the fourth to force a fifth and final set.

Denis hit 75 winners and kept fans guessing until the bitter end, when he fell 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3.

Despite the loss, we hope to see them go head-to-head many, many more times!

 

Which clash is the undisputed match of the year?

Vote now and come right back here for a rundown of the next category of Tennis Canada’s 2019 Fan Gala!

(Feature Photo: AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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