There is a lot going on right now in the world of Canadian tennis, but what will surely grab the attention of fans this week is a certain name in a draw in France: Bianca Andreescu.
The former major winner will return to the tour this week on clay after nearly six months away.
Her comeback comes just after a disappointing Billie Jean King Cup defeat for the national team while Canadians were competing on home soil on the ITF Junior and Wheelchair Tours.
Here’s what you need to know.
What to Watch: Andreescu in Action
For the first time since October 2024, Bianca Andreescu will be participating in a WTA Tour event this week. After injuries and illness kept her sidelined, the former US Open champion is competing at the WTA 250 event in Rouen, France. Her last match was a straight-set loss to Katie Boulter in the Tokyo quarter-finals last fall.
In her first match back, Andreescu will face off with world No. 69 Suzan Lamens. A win would see her meet either No. 2 seed Linda Noskova or Bernarda Pera. The draw would open up a bit if she reached the quarter-finals as the next seed the Canadian could face would not be until the semifinals, either Olga Danilovic or Moyuka Uchijima.
Gabriela Dabrowski is getting her clay season underway this week at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, Germany. She and Erin Routliffe are the top seeds in the doubles draw.
Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will both take a second stab at getting their first clay wins of 2025 this week at the ATP 500 event in Munich. Both Canadians are seeded.
Auger-Aliassime will open against Mariano Navone and a win would set up a clash with David Goffin. His projected quarter-final opponent is No. 5 seed Francisco Cerundolo and he is in the bottom half of the draw with second seed Ben Shelton.
Shapovalov is the eighth seed and starts against Lucky Loser Diego Dedura-Palomero. He would face either Zizou Bergs or Alexander Bublik in the second round with fourth seed Ugo Humbert in line for a quarter-final meeting. Top seed Alexander Zverev could be waiting in the semis.
Gabriel Diallo and Carol Zhao both competed in qualifying in Barcelona and Rouen respectively but failed to make it into the main draw.
In Case You Missed It: Canadian Heartbreak Across the Globe
Like their male counterparts, Canada’s Billie Jean King Cup team saw their bid for a second title come to a premature end in 2025 as they were eliminated in the Qualifiers last week in Tokyo.
Canada was in Group A with Japan and Romania. The new-look Canadian squad, featuring debutants Victoria Mboko, Kayla Cross, and Ariana Arseneault, alongside Marina Stakusic and Rebecca Marino, easily defeated the Romanians in their first tie but came up just a tiny bit short, being edged out by the host Japanese in the decisive doubles match of their tie.
As a result, Canada will play in the play-offs in November.
Over in Europe, Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov both had disappointing starts to their clay-court seasons. They lost their first-round matches at the Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo in similar fashion. Auger-Aliassime lost to Daniel Altmaier 7-6(5), 6-3 while Shapovalov flipped the sets with a 6-3, 7-6(5) loss to Marcos Giron.
Click here for more news and results from the ATP and WTA Tours.
Under the Radar: Winning in Woodbridge
Canada had a couple of winners on home soil on the ITF Junior Tour last week as Woodbridge, ON, played host to the first domestic event of the year.
Nadia Lagaev took home the girls singles title in dominant fashion. The top seed did not drop a set, losing just 12 games on her way to the final where she defeated fourth seed Aspen Schuman 6-3, 7-6(1).
It is back-to-back titles at the J200 event in Woodbridge for Lagaev and her third J200 title already in 2025.
Volodymyr Gurenko won the boys doubles title alongside American partner Yubel Ubri. They defeated the first and second-seeded teams back-to-back in the semifinals and finals to claim the title.
Canada is hosting another ITF Junior event this week, a J100 in Kingston, ON. Additionally, Montreal is hosting the qualifying round for the ITF Junior World Team Tennis events this week.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the team events.
Over the weekend, the first ITF wheelchair event of the year on Canadian soil, the Premier Racquet Club Wheelchair Classic, got underway in Markham, ON.
The men’s doubles and women’s singles draws were finished on the weekend but the men’s singles final and women’s doubles finals are on Monday, both of which have a chance of a Canadian winner.
Thomas Venos, who lost in the men’s doubles final with countryman Barry Henderson, will take on Conner Stroud in the men’s singles final. Frederique Berube Perron and Anne-Marie Dolinar will meet Germany’s Katharina Gruger and American Elizabeth Williams in the final match of the women’s doubles round robin, which is the de facto final as the winner of the match will finish atop the group and claim the title.
On the pro circuit, Liam Draxl reached his fifth ATP Challenger Tour final last week in Sarasota, Florida, but lost to Emilio Nava.
You can follow the Canadians in action every week here.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
