Six Canadians set to compete in French Open main draw

The official draw for the 2020 French Open has been made in the last hour. A total of six Canadian players will be competing in the main draw, as Denis Shapovalov (Richmond Hill, ON), Félix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal, QC), Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC), Steven Diez (Toronto, ON), Leylah Fernandez (Laval, QC) and Genie Bouchard (Montreal, QC) are all set to compete in singles.

Shapovalov is playing in his first tournament since breaking into the ATP Top 10, thanks to his impressive runs to the quarter-finals at the US Open and the semi-finals at the Italian Open. He will be the no. 9 seed at the final Grand Slam event of the year in Paris. In the opening round, he will take on Gilles Simon of France, who he beaten in their only previous encounter, last year at the Masters 1000 in Paris. Other possible match-ups for the 21-year-old include Grigor Dimitrov (no. 18) in the third round, Stefanos Tsitsipas (no. 5) in the fourth and Daniil Medvedev (no. 4) in the quarter-finals.

The no. 19 seed will be Auger-Aliassime, who is taking part in the main draw at the French Open for the very first time in his career, having played in the qualifying event in 2018. In his debut match, he will face Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan. Playing in the third quarter of the draw, the Canadian could face Stan Wawrinka (no. 16), Dominic Thiem (no. 3) and Gael Monfils on his way to the final eight.

For his part, Pospisil is looking to move past the opening round in Paris for the first time, having fallen early on in his six previous attempts. He will have a tough task in the first round, as he takes on the no. 7 seed Matteo Berrettini of Italy. Slated in the top quarter of the draw, he could face the likes of Roberto Bautista Agut (no. 10), Karen Khachanov (no. 15) and Novak Djokovic (No. 1) in the first few rounds.

Rounding out the Canadian contingent in the men’s draw is Diez, who won his three qualifying matches earlier in the week. The world no. 179 is making his Grand Slam main draw debut, after having come close to qualifying at the US Open in 2019. Seeing as the final qualifying matches have not finished, Diez does not yet know his first round opponent.

On the women’s side, Fernandez is back on the clay courts in Paris after being crowned champion of the Junior French Open just last year. She is directly into the main draw thanks to her ranking of no. 100 in the WTA rankings. She will face no. 31 Magda Linette of Poland in the first round. The young Canadian is in the bottom quarter of the draw, with the likes of Petra Kvitova (no. 7) and Karolina Pliskova (no. 2).

Bouchard will be competing in Paris for the seventh time in her career, with her best result coming in 2014 when she reached the semi-finals. The 26-year-old has posted some good results on clay as of late, notably reaching the final at the Istanbul Open. In the opening round at the French Open, she will take on Anna Kalinskaya of Russia. Bouchard is in the top quarter of the draw, with potential match-ups against Dayana Yastremska in the second round, Marketa Vondrousova in the third, the No. 1 seed Simona Help in the fourth round and Kiki Bertens (no. 5) in the quarters)

Prior to the start of the draw ceremony, Milos Raonic pulled out of the tournament.