(Wimbledon) There will be no ranking points at Wimbledon, as the ATP and WTA have decided so, following the banning of Russians and Belarusians from the tournament.
Posted at 9:35 a.m.
Quebec’s Félix Auger-Aliassime, the highest-ranked Canadian in the world, ninth, said it won’t affect the desire to win or the intensity of the players at the English stage of the Grand Slam.
“It remains a prestigious tournament to win. All players will do their best, Auger-Aliassime said.
There will be a lot of supporters, and there is money too. The players will find a motivation to give the best of themselves.
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Auger-Aliassime is seeded at No. 6 due to the absence of No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and No. 8 Andrey Rublev (the ban), and also No. 2 Alexander Zverev, who suffered an injury to ankle at Roland-Garros.
The 21-year-old will first face American Maxime Cressy, who has just reached the final in Eastbourne.
Number 60 in the world, Cressy is a rare serve and volley type player, who will want to challenge Auger-Aliassime at the net at the slightest opportunity.
Seeded number 13, Ontarian Denis Shapovalov will have Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech as his first rival. This one beat him in February in Doha, on a hard surface.
PHOTO BERND WEISSBROD, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year, losing to Novak Djokovic.
Auger-Aliassime’s grass season has been quite good so far; he reached the semi-final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the quarter-finals in Halle. In both cases, he was beaten by the player who would go on to win the tournament.
Shapovalov has lost outright in his last five tournaments.
“I’m in the game, but I can’t break through,” Shapovalov said. If I went for a match or two, things might really click [sur le gazon]. You start to feel confident and all of a sudden you convert more leads. »
On the women’s side, Quebecer Leylah Fernandez is absent as she is nursing a broken foot suffered at Roland-Garros earlier this month.
Bianca Andreescu arrives at Wimbledon after reaching the final in Bad Homburg, Germany.
The Ontarian ranked 56e will face American qualifier Emina Bektas on Tuesday.
A year ago, Andreescu lost in the first round of Wimbledon, against the French Alizé Cornet.
Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino returns to the All England Club for the first time since 2011.
Marino left the sport for four and a half years for mental health issues, returning at the start of 2018. After suffering a few injuries, she is doing well and knocking on the doors of the top 100.
The 31-year-old will face Katarzyna Kawa of Poland on Monday.
In doubles, Gabriela Dabrowski of Gloucester teams up with Giuliana Olmos of Mexico. They are the third headliners.