Monday Digest: Best Week of the Year for Canadian Tennis – Tennis Canada

The Canadians saved their best for (almost) last in 2024. 

Last week, five different Canadians lifted trophies on the ATP, WTA, and ITF Tours. That included a historic victory at the WTA Finals, a career-best result for a veteran, and a long-awaited triumph for one of Canada’s biggest names. 

There is a lot to celebrate this week in the world of Canadian tennis. Here’s what you need to know. 

Under the Radar: More Milestones for Marino 

2024 has been full of career-best results for Rebecca Marino but she saved her best for last by claiming her first WTA 125 title last week in Midland, Michigan.  

Back in February, Marino won her first ITF W100 title in Guanajuato, which was the biggest win of her career at the time. She matched it with another W100 in Ilkley on grass in June. Her victory last month in Calgary at the W75 event was bigger than any title she had won prior to 2024. But she blew all three out of the water last week by picking up her first title at a WTA-sanctioned event. 

Seeded sixth in Midland, Marino had to survive a tight second-round encounter with Louisa Chirico, escaping by taking the third-set tiebreak 9-7. That proved to be the toughest test of the whole tournament for the 33-year-old as she did not drop another set on her way to the title. In the final, she blew out third seed Alycia Parks 6-2, 6-1 to claim the biggest title of her career.  

Read also: Revisiting Rafael Nadal’s Five Titles at the National Bank Open

Marino will now head to Malaga for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals having won 18 of her last 20 matches. Her four titles in 2024 are her second-most in a season, having won five in 2018. However, the biggest of those titles was a pair of W25 events while her lowest title this year was a W75. 

Canada nearly swept the titles in Michigan as Ariana Arseneault and Mia Kupres reached the doubles final, the biggest of their career so far, but lost to the second seeds Emily Appleton and Maia Lumsden 10-5 in the match tiebreak in the final. The Canadians had upset the top seeds in the second round.  

On home soil at the ITF M25 event in Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec, Canada was guaranteed a title heading into Sunday as Liam Draxl took on Alexis Galarneau in the final. Draxl emerged victorious, claiming his second title of the season. 

Click here to read the full Saint-Augustin recap.

Kayla Cross joined the Canadian winners parade, picking up her sixth ITF doubles title of the year at the M35 event in Miami with American Anna Rogers. The pair were the top seeds and dropped just one set on their way to the title, capping it off with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Aya El Aouni of Morocco and Olivia Lincer of Poland in the final. 

This week, Canada plays host to its final professional event on the 2024 calendar, the ATP Challenger Banque Nationale de Drummondville. 

Click here to reach the Drummondville preview.

Canada’s juniors are also in action this week at the Billie Jean King Cup Juniors Finals in Turkey. Click here to learn more. 

In Case You Missed: Dabrowski Makes History, Shapo Ends Drought 

Gabriela Dabrowski has long been a trailblazer for Canadian tennis players. On top of being the first Canadian woman to win a doubles Grand Slam title and an Olympic medal, she added being the first Canadian to win the title at the WTA Finals last weekend. 

She and Erin Routliffe tore through the draw in Riyadh, winning the White Group with a perfect 3-0 record, beating 2023 runners-up Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Ellen Perez in the semis, and avenging their Wimbledon loss to Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend in the final to claim the trophy. 

No Canadian had ever so much as reached the final of the women’s year-end championship prior to Dabrowski this year.  

Just a couple of hours later, Denis Shapovalov picked up a long-overdue second career ATP Tour title, winning the Belgrade Open with a straight-set victory over Hamad Medjedovic.  

Shapovalov needed seven wins to get his hands on the trophy, having come through qualifying. But he looked much more like his former Top 10 self, dropping just one set (in a tiebreak) in those seven matches and dropping serve just once in the entire main draw.  

The victory snaps a five-year title drought for the 25-year-old. After winning his maiden title in Stockholm in 2019, Shapovalov lost his next five finals in a row. His last final prior to Belgrade was in October 2022. 

What to Watch: Billie Jean King Cup Title Defence Begins 

With the WTA Finals wrapping up on Saturday, the WTA Tour season has officially come to an end. The ATP Tour will follow suit as this week’s ATP Finals is the last event on the ATP calendar and does not feature any Canadians. 

However, there is still a pair of big trophies left that Canadians have their eye on. 

Canada’s bid for the first begins this week as the Billie Jean King Cup Finals gets underway in Malaga, Spain. Leylah Annie Fernandez, Rebecca Marino, Gabriela Dabrowski, and Marina Stakusic are all returning to defend the title. 

Click here to learn more about Team Canada. 

As the No. 1 team in the Billie Jean King Cup rankings, Canada has a bye directly to the quarter-finals. They will face either Great Britain or Germany on Sunday. 

Click here for everything you need to know about the 2024 World Cup of Tennis. 

You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.