Monday Digest: First Wins of 2025 Under Canadians’ Belts – Tennis Canada

It is only six days into 2025 and already a full slate of tournaments has been completed on the professional tennis circuit, with a handful of Canadians scoring their first match wins of the new year. 

Sport’s shortest off-season has already come and gone so let’s waste no time diving into the latest action from the tennis world. 

Here’s what you need to know. 

In Case You Missed It: Busy week one 

Five Canadians were competing on the main tour in the opening week of the season, with four of them picking up their first wins of the year. 

Most of the attention was focused on the United Cup, where Leylah Annie Fernandez and Félix Auger-Aliassime were representing Canada at the combined team event. 

Fernandez picked up her first match win of the year in Canada’s opening group stage tie against Croatia over Donna Vekic, while Auger-Aliassime first victory was a thrilling Top 5 win over Taylor Fritz when Canada took on the United States. However, Canada finished the group stage 1-1, second in Group A, and failed to reach the knockout stage. 

Click here for the recap of Canada’s matches at the United Cup.

On the main tour, Gabriel Diallo and Rebecca Marino both picked up victories in their first tournaments of 2025. 

Marino kicked off her season with an impressive three-set upset of 2024 WTA Newcomer of the Year Lulu Sun in the Kiwi’s home tournament in Auckland. The Canadian fell in round two to Bernarda Pera. 

Diallo won his qualifying match to get into the main draw of the Hong Kong Open where he defeated Roberto Carballes Baena in three sets. He too bowed out in the second round, losing to second seed Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets. 

Denis Shapovalov was also competing in Hong Kong but lost in the first round to eventual runner-up Kei Nishikori. 

Read also: 2024 WTA Awards – NBO Power Rankings Panel’s Version

In off-court news, last week Gabriela Dabrowski revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2024. The Canadian star shared her story in an Instagram post, detailing her story.  

Dabrowski missed the entire clay-court swing to receive surgery and treatment. In her first tournament back post-diagnosis, she won the title in Nottingham. On top of the title, she reached the Wimbledon and National Bank Open finals, won an Olympic medal, and won the WTA Finals while receiving treatment later in the season. 

Click here for more news and results for the ATP and WTA Tours.

What to Watch: Last Prep Ahead of Melbourne 

For the first time in his career, Gabriel Diallo does not have to participate in qualifying for a Grand Slam event as he received direct entry into the Australian Open. As a result, he is taking advantage to compete in the ATP 250 event in Auckland this week. 

Diallo will play an Italian Lorenzo for the second match in a row, this time Lorenzo Sonego, to kick off his campaign in Auckland. He could face No. 8 seed Alex Michelsen in the second round and is projected to meet second seed Alejandro Tabilo in the quarter-finals. 

Denis Shapovalov has already bounced back from his first-round loss last week, picking up his first win of the new year with a straight-set win over Zhizhen Zhang at the ATP 250 in Adelaide. He will face either Aleksandar Vukic or Marcus Giron in the second round. 

Read also: 2024 ATP Awards – NBO Power Rankings Panel’s Version

There could be an all-Canadian quarter-final in Adelaide as Shapovalov is projected to meet Félix Auger-Aliassime in the last eight. Auger-Aliassime is seeded fifth and has a first-round bye. He will only need to beat either Arthur Cazaux or Adam Walton to reach the quarter-finals.  

Top seed Tommy Paul would likely be waiting in the semis for whichever Canadian were to come through that quarter. 

Leylah Annie Fernandez won a pair of qualifying matches to get into her first regular WTA Tour main draw at the WTA 500 in Adelaide but lost in the first round to Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets. She is also playing doubles with Nadiia Kichenok.    

Under the Radar: One Canadian Left in Australian Open Qualifying 

Action is already underway at Melbourne Park as qualifying for the 2025 Australian Open began on Monday. 

Marina Stakusic was the first Canadian in action but her bid to reach her second Grand Slam main draw ended early as she lost her opening match to Nao Hibino in straight sets. Stakusic was the lone Canadian woman competing in qualifying. 

Alexis Galarneau is the lone Canadian competing on the men’s side. He will face No. 28 seed Lukas Klein in the first round and is in the same section of the draw as No. 2 seed Mattia Bellucci. 

While the wheelchair draw at the Australian Open does not begin for nearly two weeks, Rob Shaw is already in Melbourne and getting his preparation in at an ITF 1 series event. 

There are more than a dozen Canadians competing at ITF events this week around the globe. 

You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.  

Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1^st Round tie between Canada and Hungary are now on sale. Join us February 1 and 2 at IGA Stadium in Montreal, as the Canadian team begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Final 8. To access tickets at early-bird pricing, click here.