Fernandez, Shapovalov bounced in Indian Wells, Raonic injured

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — It was a tough Saturday for Canadian tennis players at the BNP Paribas Open.

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., lost 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in her women's singles opener to 21-year-old underdog Diane Parry of France, while Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., withdrew from his men's single match with ninth-seeded Holger Rune due to injury.

Fernandez, seeded 29th in the WTA 1000 tourney, battled against Parry, but could never catch up with her rival's serve or aggressive return game.

Fernandez had six aces compared to Parry's two in the two hour, 57-minute match. Parry had 10 double faults but did well with limiting her unforced errors.

Parry won 55 service points, while Fernandez had 47.

Fernandez was the lone Canadian woman competing at Indian Wells, Calif., in singles.

Raonic benefited in the first round when Rafael Nadal withdrew with an injury and instead played Sumit Nagal, which Raonic won easily.

All three tournaments that the 33-year-old Raonic has played in this year have ended with injuries. He retired in the first round of the Australian Open and in the quarterfinals of Rotterdam.

In women's doubles action, Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and her partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand only needed 57 minutes to beat Alexandra Panova of Russia and Cristina Bucsa of Moldova 6-0, 6-3.

Dabrowski and Routliffe, seeded second in the tournament, had one ace, four double faults and won five service games and seven return games.

Panova and Bucsa had no aces, one double fault, one service game won and two return games won.

Denis Shapovalov was eliminated in his second round match by Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 9, 2024.