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Professional tennis players are fierce competitors on the court, but tend to show the utmost respect respect once the final ball has been played. And this couldn’t hold more true than for our Canadian players.

The draw gods were cruel at the Mutua Madrid Open for Canadians. Close friends Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime were penciled in against each other in the first round. Auger-Aliassime took the match 6-2, 7-6(7) to even their ATP Tour head-to-head at 1-1.

Afterwards, Félix took to social media to give out well-wishes to his friend-turned-foe-turned-friend, Denis. How’s that for respect!

Staying on the topic of friendships, Bianca Andreescu and fellow Canadian Charlotte Robillard-Millette paths crossed recently. Like the Peaches & Herb songs goes, “reunited and it feels so good.”

Their off-court friendship, cultivated by years training together in the Tennis Canada NTC program, translated to professional success. The pair won a ITF doubles title in Gatineau, Canada in 2016.

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Reunited w/ Charbaeee🖤 #itsbeentoolong

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Vasek Pospisil has been sidelined for over six months after back surgery,but he former World No. 25 is getting closer to his professional return! He’s hoping to step back onto the court at Wimbledon, the site of his best Grand Slam result (quarter-finals in 2015), this July.

Before he revs up his training, why not have one last beer! If it was me, I would have another .

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Final beer before the comeback.

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Serena Williams will play her first tournament of the clay season at the Italian Open. Before that, the ubiquitous American went to the annual Met Gala and let me tell you, she was STUNNING.

Your eyes are immediately drawn to the dress, plus the matching Nike sneakers. A perfect mix of class and comfort.

The biggest story heading into the Mutua Madrid Open was David Ferrer. The 37-year-old stated this would be his final tournament of his career and ultimately fell in the second round to world No. 4 Alexander Zverev.

The organizers of the ATP Masters 1000 event did a fabulous job honouring the Spaniard throughout the tournament. Numerous current and past players took to social media to share their thoughts on Ferrer following his final match, one of which was the legendary Roger Federer.

Tennis professionals encounter a vast range of cultures as they travel to numerous countries during the season. It’s always fun to test players’ knowledge of a specific area and that’s exactly what happened at the Madrid Open.

World No. 8 Sloane Stephens did pretty well on the test…. she passed!

Stan Wawrinka is a seasoned veteran and has secured his place in tennis history as the winner of three Grand Slam titles. But the best way to prepare oneself to keep up with the young pups is to train with them… and who better to train with on clay than 25-year-old Dominic Thiem?

The current No. 5-ranked Austrian excels on the clay surface, recently capturing the Barcelona Open and making the final of last year’s Roland-Garros. Thiem is an absolute beast.

Ferrer wasn’t the only player who hung up their raquets recently. World No. 2 Petra Kvitova paid homage to fellow Czech Lucie Safarova, who said goodbye to the sport after a final tournament at her home event in Prague.

No one has time to be serious all the time. Earlier in the week, world No. 1 Naomi Osaka said she’s having fun playing tennis again. The 21-year-old transferred that enjoyment over to social media with this funny caption:

I personally love when accounts put together this sort of #fresh #content. In this case, Tennis TV made a tennis rally sound like video games. Anyone up for some Mario Tennis and Moral Combat?

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