Leylah Fernandez celebrates a point against Storm Sanders during the National Bank Open, in Toronto, on Aug. 8.VAUGHN RIDLEY/Getty Images
Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu learned their first-round opponents at the 2022 U.S. Open Thursday as the Canadians look to make another deep run at the final tennis major of the season.
Fernandez, the highest seeded Canadian woman at No. 14, opens against France’s Oceane Dodin.
The 19-year-old of Laval, Que., advanced to the final of last year’s U.S. Open before losing to fellow teen Emma Raducanu of Britain in straight sets.
Fernandez’s run to the 2021 final included wins over defending champion Naomi Osaka, fifth seed Elina Svitolina and second seed Aryna Sabalenka.
The Canadian’s quarter of the bracket includes second seed Anett Kontaveit and 23-time Grand Slam winner Serena Williams, who will be making her final appearance at the tournament.
Andreescu, who beat Williams in the 2019 final, opens against France’s Harmony Tan.
The 22-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., comes into the tournament ranked No. 50 in the world. She returned to action this season after taking a hiatus for mental health reasons.
Andreescu could face Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, a finalist earlier this month at the National Bank Open in Toronto, in the second round.
Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino, appearing in the main draw of the U.S. Open for the second straight year, opens against Poland’s Magdalena Frech and could get Toronto champ Simona Halep in the second round.
On the men’s side, sixth-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal opens against a qualifier yet to be determined.
Auger-Aliassime is the second-highest seed in his quarter behind world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. The two could meet in the fourth round.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., seeded 19th in New York, opens against Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler and could face ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the third round.
The only Canadian able to join those already in the main draw was Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., who was scheduled to face Italy’s Andreas Seppi in a second-round qualifying match Thursday.
Earlier, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., was foiled in her attempt to advance to her first Grand Slam main draw since the 2020 French Open with a 6-2, 6-3 loss to fourth-seeded Czech Linda Noskova in the second round of qualifying.
Serena Williams’ first opponent at what is expected to be the last tournament of her career, the U.S. Open, will be Danka Kovinic.
Win that, and Williams could face No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in the second round.
Other possible opponents for Williams, should she progress through the tournament, include No. 27 seed Martina Trevisan of Italy in the third round and 2021 U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada or 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic in the fourth.
She could face her sister Venus only in the final, because they are on opposite sides of the bracket.
No. 1 Iga Swiatek, a two-time French Open champion, will meet Jasmine Paolini in the first round, while Raducanu will begin her title defence against Alize Cornet.
Potential quarter-finals are Swiatek vs. No. 8 Jessica Pegula, and No. 4 Paula Badosa vs. No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka on the top half of the field, and Kontaveit – or, perhaps, Williams – vs. Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur, and No. 3 Maria Sakkari vs. No. 7 Simona Halep or French Open runner-up Coco Gauff on the bottom half.
In the men’s draw, defending champion Daniil Medvedev is seeded No. 1 – the first Grand Slam event since 2004 in which Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer or Andy Murray didn’t hold that spot. He will start by taking on Stefan Kozlov of the United States.
No. 2 Nadal, whose 22 Grand Slam titles are a record for a man, was drawn to face Australian wild-card recipient Rinky Hijikata.
Potential men’s quarter-finals are Medvedev vs. Auger-Aliassime, No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. No. 5 Casper Ruud in what would be a matchup between the past two French Open runners-up, Nadal vs. No. 7 Cam Norrie, and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz vs. No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz.
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios, who is seeded No. 23, could meet Medvedev in the fourth round. In the first round, Kyrgios will play his fellow Australian, good friend and doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Canadian Press,
The Associated Press