Disappointing end to Canadian Olympic tennis hopes in Tokyo

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Quickly and quietly, Canada’s Olympic tennis wishes are complete.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gaby Dabrowski mixed tandem suffered a first-round 6-3, 6-4 loss to Greek tandem Stefanos Tsitsipas and Maria Sakkari on Wednesday. maple leaf.

Overall, the Canadians won just one of five matches in Tokyo, leaving the momentum that Canada’s top players had done internationally over the past couple of years. Given the pre-Olympics injury to Milos Raonic and the last-minute decisions by Bianca Andreescu and Vasek Pospisil not to take part in the Games, Canada failed to get the field.

The victory in the lone match belonged to Leylah Fernandez, who won the first round match in the women’s singles.

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Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime did not both win the match. One cut in each installment made all the difference in the loss to Sakkar and Tsitsipas. Tsitsipas, who finished fourth on the ATP tour, stepped back on the field almost immediately after Frances Ugo Humbert had dropped out of the singles competition earlier on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Auger-Aliassimes ’doubles desires were lost when he lost in the opening round to Australian Max Purcell. Purcell was a last-minute substitute for double defending Olympic champion Andy Murray, who withdrew due to injury.

Auger-Aliassime seemed a little surprised by the loss in the open round to Purcell, who was originally scheduled to compete in doubles only. Frank Dancevic, one of Canada’s tennis coaches, told Postmedia that the late change to Purcell from Murray was a mentally difficult adjustment.

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Auger-Aliassime didn’t go there looking for excuses.

Maybe this is another lesson in my career and in my life, he said. I know what I’m worth and I know how good I can play. I think it just shows that while I’ve done great things in my career so far, and again this year, there are still many things I can do better.

Auger-Aliassimes ’performance with Dabrowski on Wednesday was also his first mixed doubles competition.

Dabrowski and partner Sharon Fichman also dropped the opening round in the women’s singles.

So that’s all, this all from Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo. Next time, Canada’s best players will be at the National Bank Open on August 7-15. Men in Toronto and women in Montreal.

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Earlier in the summer, there was some hope that Canadian tennis players could make noise at the Olympics, perhaps even securing the countries second medal. Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau won gold in the doubles in the 2000 Sydney Games.

Andreescu is currently fifth in the world in doubles and received the Lou Marsh Award as Canada’s top athlete in 2019 after winning a preliminary event at the U.S. Open. Shapovalov, ranked 10th in the world, advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals before losing to Novak Djokovic, the undisputed king of the world’s fields these days. Auger-Aliassime, who also advanced to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, is ranked 15th in the world and finished ninth in the Olympics. Dabrowski is a two-time Grand Slam champion, winning a couple of titles in the mixed pair and going to the finals in the women’s pair at Wimbledon.

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Piece by piece, however, all those opportunities were lost.

Raonic, whose thriving service has helped keep him inside or near the top ten in the world for the past six years, has been unused for most of spring and summer due to disturbing calf injuries. Currently ranked 22nd, he has now overtaken three of the biggest events of the season, including the French Open, Wimbledon and the Olympics.

Shapovalov took his passport to the Olympics altogether and decided to play in the Wimbledon post-tournament in Switzerland, where he lost in the second round.

Andreescu, who has suffered multiple injuries since the impressive 2019 run that saw him rise in the rankings, said he would initially go to the Olympics after losing in the first round at Wimbledon. After considering some concerns about his health and the COVID-19 situation in Japan, he changed his mind and stayed away. Then came the last-minute Pospisil decision, which suggested similar reasons for not going to Tokyo. Pospisil, ranked 62nd in the world, was meant to play singles and men’s singles with Auger-Aliassi.

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At Ariake Tennis Park, Canada’s lone bright spot was Fernandez’s opening round, currently ranked 72nd in the world. Fernandez defeated Ukraine Dayana Yastremska before losing to Barbora Krejcikova in the second round. However, that one victory did not give him much satisfaction.

It certainly could have gone better, Fernandez told Postmedia in a phone interview after the loss to Krejcikova. I expect a lot more from myself. I need to learn from my mistakes. Today was not my best day, and I didn’t use my opportunities when I had them. I’m just disappointed, I didn’t reach my goal.

Other Canadian Olympic tennis teams could very well say the same things.

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