FIVE CANADIANS IN THE SINGLES MAIN DRAW AT WIMBLEDON
Tennis Canada – Montreal, June 29, 2018 – The singles draws are set for Wimbledon 2018 and it will feature five Canadians, Milos Raonic (Thornhill, ON), Denis Shapovalov, (Richmond Hill, ON), Vasek Pospisil (Vancouver, BC), Peter Polansky (Thornhill, ON) and Eugenie Bouchard (Montreal, QC).
Raonic, currently ranked world no. 32, is the 13th seed at this year’s tournament thanks to the unique seeding formula which takes into account a player’s grass court achievements in addition to their ATP ranking. The Canadian has certainly had great results playing at Wimbledon, reaching the final in 2016, where he defeated grass court king Roger Federer in the semi-finals. Raonic has had some promising results in recent months, notably reaching the finals at the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart just a few weeks ago. In the first round, he will take on British Wild Card Liam Broady (no. 175), the boys’ singles finalist at Junior Wimbledon in 2011.
For his part, 19-year-old Denis Shapovalov will be the tournament’s 26th seed. The young Canadian is continuing to shoot up the rankings, attaining a career high of no. 23 earlier this month. He reached his second Masters 1000 semi-final earlier this season in Madrid. The 2016 Junior Wimbledon champion was awarded a Wild Card for last year’s tournament, where he fell in the first round. He will look to better that result this year as he draws Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in his opening match. The young Canadian is in Rafael Nadal’s quarter of the draw and could face two-time Wimbledon champion Andy Murray as of the second round and Juan Martin del Potro in the third.
Vasek Pospisil (no. 93), who has been climbing back up the ATP rankings since the start of the year, will face Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan (no. 90) in the first round with a potential match-up against Rafael Nadal in the following round. Pospisil has faced Kukushkin twice before, with each player winning a match. The Vancouver native is no stranger to success at the All England Club, as he went on an impressive run to the quarter-finals in 2015 and won the doubles title in 2014.
Despite losing in the final round of qualifications, Ontario native Peter Polansky reached the Wimbledon main draw as a lucky loser. This is the third consecutive major tournament where the Canadian is awarded a lucky loser spot. In his first round match, he will take on Austrian qualifier Dennis Novak. Polansky, who is on the verge of breaking into the Top 100 for the first time in his career, could face Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the second round with a potential all-Canadian match-up in the third round against Raonic.
Eugenie Bouchard qualified for this year’s main draw, posting mostly dominant victories over her opponents in her three qualifying matches. In the first round, the 24-year-old will face British Wild Card Gabriella Taylor and could face the defending champion Garbine Muguruza in the fourth round. Currently ranked no. 191, Bouchard has had good results at Wimbledon, reaching her first career Grand Slam final on the grass courts in 2014.
In doubles, Gabriela Dabrowski (Ottawa, ON) and partner Yifan Xu will be the tournament’s sixth seeds. The two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion will be on the hunt for her first ladies’ doubles major title. Daniel Nestor (Toronto, ON) and partner Jürgen Melzer have received a Wild Card into the gentlemen’s’ doubles draw. The Canadian doubles legend is playing in his final season on the professional tour and will be looking to add some hardware to his collection, which includes two Wimbledon doubles titles (2008, 2009) as well as one in mixed doubles (2013).
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