Monday Digest: Dabrowski, Shaw the Focus at Australian Open

It appears you may at all times depend on Gabriela Dabrowski and Rob Shaw to avoid wasting the day for Canada at a Grand Slam occasion. Identical to in 2024, the doubles specialist and the wheelchair star are the final Canadians standing on the Australian Open. 

Whereas Canada’s singles gamers performed some stable tennis, it was not sufficient for any of them to succeed in the second week of the yr’s first main. 

In the meantime on the ITF tour, a pair of Canadians are off to a flying begin in 2025. 

Right here’s what that you must know. 

In Case You Missed It: Canadians Crash Out in Singles 

By Jonathan Chan

Gabriela Dabrowski is the one Canadian remaining on the Australian Open. 

She and Erin Routliffe superior to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought win over Beatriz Haddad Maia and Laura Siegemund 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. The pair have come again from down a set in every of their three wins within the event. The reigning WTA Finals champions will tackle Miyu Kato and Renata Zarazua within the quarters. 

The 5 Canadians within the singles draw fell early within the season’s first Grand Slam.  

Leylah Annie Fernandez discovered essentially the most success in Melbourne Park, successful her first match towards Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-5, 6-4 and her second-round match towards Cristina Bucsa 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Her run would finish within the third spherical as she fell to No. 3 Coco Gauff, one of many event favourites, 6-4, 6-2.  

Learn additionally: WTA Energy Rankings – Sabalenka Eyeing Three-Peat at Australian Open

Regardless of the early exit, it was essentially the most profitable Australian Open of Fernandez’s profession, as she reached the third spherical for the primary time in six entries. 

Rebecca Marino was the one different Canadian within the ladies’s draw however dropped her first-round match to the twenty second seed Katie Boulter 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.  

Issues didn’t go higher for the Canadians on the lads’s facet. 

Félix Auger-Aliassime rode into the Australian Open on a excessive, taking a five-match win streak into the event after successful the Adelaide Worldwide. Sadly for the Montreal native, he was bounced within the second spherical by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Auger-Aliassime went up two units to like however couldn’t put away the Spaniard, who stormed again to take the match 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3. 

Learn additionally: ATP Energy Rankings – Sinner Seems to Keep Dominant at Australian Open

Denis Shapovalov beat veteran Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (8) in his first-round match however was unable to beat a troublesome draw, falling to 2024 Olympic bronze medallist and No. 16 seed Lorenzo Musetti  7-6(3), 7-6(6), 6-2. 

Gabriel Diallo confronted a well-recognized foe in his second-round matchup however was overwhelmed by No. 19 Karen Khachanov for the third time in six months 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.  

Fernandez noticed her keep in Melbourne finish on Sunday evening after she and associate Nadiia Kichenok misplaced their third-round doubles match 6-3, 6-0 to Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova. 

Dabrowski’s combined doubles marketing campaign got here to an finish early as she and Sander Gille of Belgium misplaced in spherical one. Vasek Pospisil was imagined to play doubles with Australia’s Jordan Thompson however the Aussie injured his foot enjoying singles and the pair had been pressured to withdraw. 

Click on right here for extra information and outcomes from the ATP and WTA Excursions.

What to Watch: Shaw Joins Dabrowski in Melbourne 

By Pete Borkowski

Solely two Canadians can be gracing the courts of Melbourne Park through the second week of the Australian Open. 

Gabriela Dabrowski performs her quarter-final with Erin Routliffe towards Miyu Kato and Renata Zarazua on Tuesday. They may meet No. 3 seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko within the semifinals. It might be a rematch in Melbourne for the Canadian-Kiwi pair and Ostapenko, because the Latvian and her then-partner Lyudmyla Kichenok knocked Dabrowski and Routliffe out within the semifinals final yr. 

Prime seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, who beat Dabrowski and Routliffe in final yr’s Wimbledon last however had been overwhelmed by them within the last of the WTA Finals, loom because the doubtless finals opponent. 

Learn additionally: Dabrowski Opens Up About her Breast Most cancers Journey 

Rob Shaw joins the fray this week in Melbourne because the lone Canadian within the wheelchair occasions, however the draw gods haven’t been variety to the nation’s high wheelchair tennis participant. In quad singles, he’ll face the world No. 2  Niels Vink within the first spherical.  

Vink leads their head-to-head 8-2, together with a victory final week on the Melbourne Wheelchair Open. The Dutchman additionally beat Shaw on the Paralympics and Roland-Garros in 2024.  

In doubles, the Canadian will group up with common associate Heath Davidson. They may open towards Diego Perez and David Wagner and will face the second-seeded group of Andy Lapthorne and Sam Schroder within the semifinals. 

Shaw and Davidson have reached the ultimate of each tournaments they’ve performed up to now in 2025 however have but to get their arms on a champion’s trophy. Final week on the ITF Melbourne Open, they misplaced within the title match to Man Sasson and Vink, who’re the highest seeds this week on the Australian Open. 

Beneath the Radar: Mboko, Aguilar Double-Up

4 extra trophies had been added to Canada’s 2025 haul courtesy of two gamers, each of whom have already claimed {hardware} this yr. 

Victoria Mboko is off to a flying begin this yr, claiming the singles and doubles titles at an ITF occasion for the second week in a row, this week in Petit-Bourg, Guadaloupe.  

In singles, she was much more dominant than the earlier week. She as soon as once more didn’t drop a set on her technique to the title however this time by no means misplaced greater than 4 video games in a set and essentially the most video games she misplaced in a whole match, her semifinal towards Hina Inoue, was simply six. She capped off the run with a 6-4, 6-0 win within the last over American Clervie Ngounoue. 

Mboko teamed up with Ngounoue to win the doubles. The pair solely wanted to win two matches as they’d a first-round bye and bought a walkover within the quarter-finals. They wanted three units within the semis however blew away Jenna Dean and Amanda Carolina Nava Elkin 6-3, 6-1 within the last to assert the title. 

Throughout each disciplines, Mboko is 15-0 up to now in 2025 and has solely dropped two units, each in doubles. 

Juan Carlos Aguilar was additionally a champion final week however upped this sport this week, following Mboko’s lead by successful each the singles and doubles titles on the ITF occasion in Kingston, Jamaica. 

The singles title was his first as knowledgeable. He bought previous fellow Canadian Benjamin Thomas George within the second spherical earlier than successful back-to-back three setters to succeed in the ultimate. There he defeated American Andres Martin 7-5, 6-2 to assert the title. 

He gained his second doubles title in as many weeks alongside Kody Pearson of Australia. The pair had a first-round bye and didn’t drop a set the remainder of the best way, capping of the win with a 7-6(3), 6-2 win over Raul Garcia and Miguel Tobon. It’s the fifteenth doubles title of Aguilar’s profession. 

Alexis Galarneau is constructing some momentum forward of Canada’s upcoming Davis Cup tie in Montreal. The Lavallois reached his first semifinal of the season on the ATP Challenger Tour in Oeiras, Portugal, falling in three units to the highest seed and eventual champion Aleksandar Kovacevic. 

This week, Rebecca Marino will look to hold her degree from Melbourne to Karnataka, India, the place she is competing in an ITF W100 occasion. 

You possibly can observe the Canadians in motion each week right here.  

Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1st Spherical tie between Canada and Hungary are actually on sale. Be part of us February 1 and a pair of at IGA Stadium in Montreal, because the Canadian group begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Ultimate 8. To entry tickets at early-bird pricing, click on right here.