Pre-Wimbledon Canadian Tennis Report
As we approach the halfway mark of the 2025 calendar year, we will be taking a look at the mid-season progress report for all of Canada’s top, and rising tennis players from around the tour; on both the ATP and WTA. Let’s get into it.
Felix Auger-Aliassime & Denis shapovalov:
Credit: Getty Images
Firstly we begin with Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov - Canada’s top two Canadians on the men’s side. As the two jockey for position to solidify themselves as Canada’s true number one, there’s been ups and downs for the two of them. The “ups” came early when Auger-Aliassime opened up the 2025 season with two titles. An outdoor hard court title at the ATP 250 Adelaide Open in Australia just before the first slam of the year in Melbourne. And another ATP 250 title, this time an indoor title in Montpellier immediately following the Australian Open. Those title wins assisted Auger-Aliassime to a ranking as high as #23 in Singles. Auger-Aliassime also appeared in a ATP 500 level final a month later in Dubai which also aided him to a season high ranking of #18. While he’s been at a standstill - and ever so slightly dropping in ranking with no major results since then, currently at 27th. Auger-Aliassime is focused on making his mark on this short, but currently ongoing grass season. Already posting a semi-final result in Stuttgart, Aliassime has openly acknowledged a disappointing clay court season, and seems determined to right the ship for the next month as Wimbledon is on the horizon. Denis Shapovalov has had a similar story to his 2025 thus far. An early title in the first week of February saw Shapovalov take home the ATP 500 Dallas Open - which would be his 3rd career title. Following that title win, Shapovalov posted a semi-final appearance at the ATP 500 Acapulco Open. Those back-to-back results propelled Shapovalov from #54 to the top 32 in the Men’s ATP rankings and currently ranked 29th. Both Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov had little to no success during the brief clay court season, but seem determined to get their reps in for Wimbledon. That includes the two of them participating in the ATP 500 Halle Open just last week and the duo even playing doubles together; which, outside of Davis Cup, the two haven’t partnered up for Doubles on the ATP tour since 2023 Indian Wells.
Gabriel Diallo:
Credit: Getty Images
Staying on the men’s side, our focus shifts to Gabriel Diallo, The 23-year-old coming off his first ever ATP title at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertongenbosch Netherlands. Diallo has really taken Canadian Tennis by storm as of late (at least on the men’s side), we’ll get back into that a little later. Diallo’s recent uprising has caught a lot of eyes, not only in Canada but in the tennis landscape in general. Aside from his various hairstyles Diallo loves to throw at us every week, it seems his game has begun to evolve into something special. Diallo is coached by Martin Laurendeau, a long time tennis coach, former player and also the former captain of Team Canada at the Davis Cup. Laurendeau has coached Diallo since 2021 and it seems like that work is finally starting to pay off. With a current ranking of number 41 in the world. Diallo opened up the new year sitting at a ranking of 87th, and while he’s still finding his way on the tour - despite winning his first ever title. He didn't experience a breakthrough until mid-April, where Diallo made a dream quarter-final run at the Madrid Masters as a Lucky Loser. That run saw Diallo’s ranking jump 20 spots from number 74th in the world to 54. Diallo has a stacked schedule ahead of his long awaited Wimbledon main draw debut. Playing in three grass court tournaments leading up to Wimbledon. Nonetheless, It’ll be very exciting to see what is to come from Gabe in the near future and what lies ahead for the remainder of the 2025 season.
Victora mboko:
Credit: Piero Cruciatti via Getty Images
Shifting over to the WTA side of things and probably the most talked about name out there as we approach the halfway mark of 2025, is Victoria Mboko. The young teenage sensation from Canada has seen tremendous growth in her game and popularity as the season rolls along. Mboko has a current singles record of 42 wins and six losses, with five straight ITF titles and two doubles titles at the beginning of the year. She also has already made the 3rd round of a Grand Slam, that being Roland Garros just over two weeks ago, and while It’s only been five months, she’s already given some of the top female players a good run for their money. Such as Paula Badosa with a 3-set battle in Miami - Mboko’s WTA main draw debut, and another three setter against World No.4 Coco Gauff in Rome just last month. Roland Garros saw Mboko come through the main draw as a qualifier where she eventually went toe to toe with the 2024 Paris Olympic Gold Medalist from China, Qinwen Zheng in the third round but lost in straight sets. It’s a very small sample size, but there is a ton of potential - both the way she carries herself on the court, just as much as she does off the court. Every tennis fan, especially Canadian tennis fans who have been following Mboko's young career thus far, are eager to see what is next from her. While she did not partake in any grass tournaments leading up to Wimbledon; but has been training on the grass surface as seen on her social media accounts. It’s a surface she hasn’t played all that often, just three tournaments in total, as the ITF mainly provides hard court and clay court tournaments. Mboko only carries a six wins and two losses record on the grass surface. However, back in 2022, Mboko was a semi-finalist at Wimbledon as a Juniors player. That tiny sample size has given fans a small glimpse of what could be expected from Mboko at the professional level as these upcoming Wimbledon Championships loom. Mboko is currently ranked inside the top-100 at 95th on the WTA rankings and is the 6th seed at these upcoming Wimbledon qualifiers with a very favourable draw.
Leylah fernandez:
Credit: The Canadian Press
Although, Canada’s main number one on the women’s side - by a significant margin. Leylah Fernandez will not have to go through qualifying at Wimbledon. In fact, she’ll be seeded at the tournament as the 30th seed. But the year hasn’t been all such smooth sailing for Fernandez. Mainly coached by her father, Jorge Fernandez, he began coaching his daughter at a young age. Jorge has always been coaching Fernandez whether it be at the forefront or in the background - more recently in the forefront of things. Even with little to no tennis experience, Fernandez continues to bring her father along despite not having the most successful season thus far. Leylah holds a current record of 15 wins and 14 losses and hasn’t seen any significant results outside of one quarter-final appearance in early February at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open. Fernandez has held steady in terms of her ranking within the top 32 as the year has gone on, but fans are beginning to panic and point fingers at her coaching box as there has been no reported changes to her coaching team since early 2023. One of the biggest flaws to Leylah’s game over the past number of years has been her serve. Something that has been her kryptonite in some matches that ultimately leads to a notable outcome in the result, which is why fans are becoming frustrated as to why there hasn’t been any changes to her team. Reaching the US Open final as an 18-year-old back in 2021, and upsetting some of the best in the game then, and still now, is no coincidence or accident; there’s still potential that needs to be unlocked. Leylah is only 22-years-old, and there is still tons of time to steer things in the right direction, but as the ranking slowly begins to dip, things will only become harder and some key decisions will need to be made, to either her team or her playstyle to begin seeing successful results again at a decent rate.
Notable canadians, including carson branstine:
Credit: Alyssa van Heyst
Other Canadians such as Rebecca Marino, Kayla Cross, Alexis Galarneau, Liam Draxl & Bianca Andreescu - who is back on the tour and healthy, are expected to be participating at Wimbledon in qualifying. An additional name having to go through qualifying is Carson Branstine. Branstine is finally beginning to make a name for herself on the tour as a little bit of a late bloomer. The now 24-year-old Branstine experienced 2023 with a season ending injury that kept her out of action resulting in a ranking of 954. In 2024, Branstine made a return to tennis on the ITF, where she went on to win three titles, ending that year ranked at 252, and also attended Texas A&M University which resulted in Branstine aiding her school to a NCAA National Championship. She currently sits with a ranking of 196 and is already setting personal achievements such as her first WTA main draw victory at the Libema Open, and a WTA 125k finals run in Cancun in February. Outside of the top Canadians mentioned earlier, these six Canadians that are looking to snag a main draw spot at the All England Club later this month have given us something to cheer about every week respectively; it seems. Seven total Canadians participating in qualifying for one of the most prestigious tennis slams of the year gives us Canadian tennis fans a lot to keep an eye out for. Although their respective routes through the qualifying stage may be difficult - such as Branstine taking on the Number one seed, and Roland Garros semi-finalist Lois Boisson in round one. Canadian tennis fans are feeling very confident that at least one of these seven Canadians listed above will look to qualify for the All England Club and join the earlier mentioned top Canadians at Wimbledon; Including Gabriela Dabrowski (Doubles). Couldn’t go a whole column without mentioning her name, Could I?. Dabrowski, 33-years-old, is looking to capture the one Grand Slam title she has yet to have in her trophy case. A Wimbledon title. She will look to do so in Women’s doubles (partner Erin Routliffe) and mixed doubles (partner TBA), this year as she has returned from a brief injury that kept Dabrowski out a month.
All in all, it’s a great time to be a fan of Canadian tennis. With plenty to look out for, and as we approach the halfway mark of the 2025 season, I'd assume we witness many more great individual, or team, achievements by some of Canada’s current and rising stars.
