All-Canadian clash

You wouldn’t know it from how good Felix Auger-Aliassime’s grass season has been that he had never played a professional match before on the surface. The 18-year old made the final in Stuttgart and the semifinals at Queen’s Club, pushing his ATP ranking to a career high No. 21 in the world. His first round opponent at Wimbledon? None other than Vasek Pospisil, who is making his return to tennis after back surgery held him out for eight months. Auger-Aliassime, now comfortably the Canadian No. 2, is in the spot that had been held by Pospisil for the better part of this decade behind Milos Raonic. These two met last year at Indian Wells, with the youngster coming out on top in his very first win on the ATP tour. Auger-Aliassime is seeded No. 19 in the tournament, while Pospisil received entry into the main draw via his protected ranking. The winner of this match could face Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, whom Auger-Aliassime just beat two weeks ago at Queen’s Club. They landed in Novak Djokovic’s section who comes in as the favourite to win the title – while Auger-Aliassime is the fifth favourite on many sports books to win at 29/1, despite never winning a Grand Slam match.

Perfect path for Milos

Historically his best surface, Raonic had a respectable showing in two grass-court tournaments leading up to Wimbledon. The top-ranked Canadian won three matches in Stuttgart before withdrawing with a back injury, then won two matches at Queen’s Club but lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Feliciano Lopez. This is all coming after he missed three months and Roland Garros due to the same back issue that kept him out of a Canadian clash at the semifinals in Stuttgart against Auger-Aliassime. It’s the same story as it has always been; Raonic’s results are mainly based on his body. If he stays healthy, there is huge potential for a deep run at Wimbledon. His draw is very favourable, starting with No. 91 Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Monday and potentially Robin Haase in the second round. But it’s the certain seeded players that landed in his section that really makes this interesting. No. 22 Stan Wawrinka is projected to be his third round opponent and he hasn’t reached that stage since 2015. Kevin Anderson would be the next projected opponent and he’s only played four tournaments all year because of injury. Alexander Zverev is also in this quarter, and he’s notoriously struggled in Grand Slams, notably when Raonic won their fourth round encounter at the Australian Open this year in straight sets. The draw has laid out a great path for the 28-year old and Canadian tennis fans can only hope he stays healthy. 

Struggling Shapovalov gains late momentum

Good draws have been far from what Denis Shapovalov has received in 2019. The now 20-year old had to play his 2019 nemesis Jan-Lennard Struff in Stuttgart to kick off the grass season (he had previously lost twice to him this year already), and Juan Martin Del Potro at Queen’s Club in his opening round matches, both losses. Add those to a clay season full of difficult draws and it just hasn’t been the step forward Shapovalov was hoping for this year. The No. 29 seed boasts just a 15-15 record in 2019 and will have a considerable amount of points to defend after Wimbledon. Shapovalov drew No. 74 Ricardas Berankis in the first round and could face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after that, a player he’s beaten in the second round of a Grand Slam before. Rafael Nadal is the top-seeded player in Shapovalov’s section, and a third round matchup between the two is a high possibility. There is some positive news coming into the tournament; the 2016 Wimbledon junior champion defeated Novak Djokovic at the Boodles exhibition last week in straight sets which should give him a boost of confidence.

Bouchard needing a boost

Absent from the tour for the majority of the spring and summer, Eugenie Bouchard has only played two matches since mid-March. An abdominal injury kept her out of every warm-up event leading into the French Open, while she only played one grass court match, a first round qualifier in Eastbourne, which she lost 6-2, 6-0 to a player ranked twenty spots below her. Nevertheless, the 2014 finalist is into the main draw at Wimbledon and will play No. 59 Tamara Zidanšek in the first round. Bouchard is in a section with winnable matches, but her lack of match play could deter the hope of making a run. She has the majority of her points to defend from now through the U.S. Open, so match wins are much more important to keep her ranking inside the top-100.

Lucky loser earns Schnur a spot

A Canadian newcomer to the big stage, Brayden Schnur advanced to his first career Grand Slam after winning the Lucky Loser draw. The Pickering, Ont. native lost in the final round of qualifying but drew the first number for players who were ranked the highest that were eliminated. He had to play the waiting game in hopes someone would withdraw and sure enough Borna Coric pulled out on Saturday, giving Schnur a spot in the main draw. The 23-year old is having a career year on the ATP tour, highlighted by making his first ATP final at the New York Open in February, doing so as a qualifier. Mixed results have followed since, and he took a month off to have minor surgery in correcting a deviated septum. His first round opponent Marcos Baghdatis, who made the Australian Open final all the way back in 2006, is retiring after the tournament so there will be some extra attention on this match. Schnur’s main draw appearance pushes the number to five Canadian men at this Grand Slam, tying the record for most all-time.