STARNBERG, June 15, 2022 (by Alex Jack)
Canadian tennis fans have plenty to be excited about in 2022 and beyond. The country boasts three of the top up-and-coming talents, all of which are worth keeping an eye on in the next few months.
Bianca Andreescu
There was good news in April when Grand Slam winner Bianca Andreescu returned to action after battling injuries for the last two years. The 21-year-old admitted she came close to quitting after taking a break from the game.
Winning come back for Bianca Andreescu 👋
Away from courts for 7 months, 2019 US Open champion has beaten Jule Niemeier in 2 sets in Stuttgart pic.twitter.com/GQCJrB2A8X
— We Are Tennis (@WeAreTennis) April 20, 2022
Andreescu was tipped to be a dominant force in the sport after a breakthrough season in 2019. She won the Indian Wells Masters and the Canadian Open before defeating Serena Williams in the US Open final and rose to No. 4 in the world. Her trajectory was halted by a knee injury, which kept her out of action for the whole of 2020. She returned to action, however, along with her poodle Coco, at the 2021 Australian Open, but was unable to regain her form and faced further injury setbacks before returning to Stuttgart in April 2022. At the Italian Open in Rome, she reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final since Miami 2021.
The Canadian dropped to No. 121 in the world rankings for a while but is back up to No. 72 and has rediscovered her passion for competing after a difficult period. She now faces a month of action on grass, a surface she is keen to conquer. The Ontario native has played just four matches on the surface since 2019, winning one, and she has yet to progress past the first round at Wimbledon. Canadian fans looking to back Andreescu to win in 2022 can find the best sports betting sites at Bonusfinder Canada. Among the best-rated sportsbooks of Ontario, Bet365 have Andreescu staked at ods of +1800 to land a second US Open title later in the year. It’s also worth noting that she started the Berlin Open grass court event priced at +1360.
Leylah Annie Fernandez
Also flying the Canadian flag in 2022 is Leylah Annie Fernandez. Fernandez is only 19 years old but has already reached No. 15 in the world after winning her first WTA Tour title at the 2021 Monterrey Open (a title she retained in 2022). She also defeated three top-five opponents on her way to the 2021 US Open final, where she was beaten by rising English star Emma Raducanu. Most recently, she reached the quarter-finals of the French Open.
2X CHAMP 🏆 VAMOS! The energy was unreal. 🤩 Monterrey and Mexico…you have a special place in my heart 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/zZWg2dnSYh
— leylahfernandez (@leylahfernandez) March 7, 2022
Félix Auger-Aliassime
Félix Auger-Aliassime is still only 21 years old and is currently ranked No. 9 in the world. Back in January, he became the second-youngest to break into the top ten after Rafael Nadal but has since been surpassed by Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz. He reached the semi-finals of the US Open in 2021 and has also been a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. The best result of his career so far came in the Rotterdam Open back in February when he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. He has reached 10 ATP finals in total on all surfaces.
Another player who has been knocking on the door is 23-year-old Denis Shapovalov. The world No.15 has reached one Grand Slam semi-final and two-quarter finals. He was named ATP Star of Tomorrow in 2017.
Andreescu is currently the only Canadian to win a Grand Slam but there is a genuine reason to believe this current generation could add to that tally very soon.
