(London) It was a fruitful day for the Canadians on Friday at Wimbledon.
Ontario’s Denis Shapovalov and Bianca Andreescu each won their singles match, while Quebec’s Leylah Annie Fernandez made her debut in women’s doubles.
Shapovalov spoiled the party for British tennis fans by coming from behind to dispose of home favorite Liam Broady in four sets of 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and 7-5 in the third round.
The 26th seed of the tournament will meet in the fourth round with Russian Roman Safiullin, 92nd in the world. Shapovalov is a career perfect 2-0 against Safiullin – he notably beat him in the round of 16 at the Adelaide tournament earlier this year.
Shapovalov is trying to repeat his feat of 2021, when he found himself in the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
On the women’s side, Andreescu played erratic tennis before beating 26th seed Anhelina Kalinina 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(7) in the second round.
Andreescu seemed headed for a one-sided win after winning the first set and breaking it early in the second.
The Ukrainian, however, dug deep to regain her serve and tie the game 4-4, then registered another break in the final game to tie the game at one set all.
Kalinina got the break and quickly built a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the Ontarian came from behind and forced the ultimate tiebreaker.
Andreescu then seized his chance and took control 9-3, before his opponent saved four match points. The representative of the maple leaf maintained her composure and finally sealed the outcome of the meeting with her next match point.
Andreescu will now face sixth seed Ons Jabeur, who easily defeated China’s Bai Zhuoxuan 6-1, 6-1 in just 45 minutes.
For her part, Fernandez and her American playing partner Taylor Townsend won their first-round match 6-1, 6-3 over Americans Alycia Parks and Peyton Stearns.
