The 2019 calendar year was simply a spectacular one for Canadian tennis. For the first time ever, Canada had a singles champion as Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ontario won the United States Open, and Canada reached its very first Davis Cup final ever before losing to Spain in Madrid.
However it has been a disastrous week so far for Canadian tennis at the 2020 Australian Open, the first major of the year. First off, Andreescu had to pull out because of a knee injury she suffered at the 2019 WTA Finals in Shenzhen, China. Then, Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal (the three-time grand slam semifinalist) did not even qualify for the Australian Open as she lost 6-4, 6-3 to Martina Trevisan of Italy.
The fact that Canada had minimal female representation in singles (only participant was rookie Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal) did not bring any panic signs however as Canada was expected to have a deep men’s singles team. The Canadians were led by 13th ranked Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, 20th ranked Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, 32nd ranked Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ontario and Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, British Columbia. Pospisil was unranked, but did have a fantastic Davis Cup in November.
Well, we are only two full days into the Australian Open, and there is only one Canadian left, and the lone Canadian (Raonic) beat a lucky loser in Lorenzo Giustino of Italy in straight sets to get to round two. Shapovalov could not beat Marton Fucsovics of Hungary as he had a staggering total of 62 unforced errors. Then, Auger-Aliassime was beaten in four sets by the 254th ranked Ernests Gulbis of Latvia. Then, Pospisil lost in straight sets to the 40 year-old Ivo Karlovic of Croatia. Fernandez meanwhile had a poor showing in her grand slam debut, as she was steamrolled by American Lauren Davis, 6-4, 6-2.
There is no doubt 2019 was a great year for Canadian tennis. Oliver Wheeler of Tennis Canada was expecting even better things in 2020, with his new year predictions. There has been nothing to get excited over just yet.
