Canadian Denis Shapovalov made his debut at the Geneva Tennis Open on Tuesday after defeating Argentinian Federico Coria 7-5, 6-0 in the first round.
It was the first career match between the two tennis players, and the Ontarian, who is at 123e world level, ousted his opponent after an hour and 23 minutes on Swiss clay.
In the next round, Shapovalov will meet Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the sixth seed in the tournament. Griekspoor barely beat American Christopher Eubanks 6-4, 1-6 and 6-3 earlier in the day.
For her part, Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez was not as lucky as Shapovalov and lost 4-6, 6-4 and 6-2 to Russian Liudmila Samsonova (no 5) in the round of 16 of the Strasbourg Open.
Things went better for Canadian Rebecca Marino, who won her first qualifying match at the French Open tennis tournament by defeating Argentina’s Martina Capurro Taborda 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Marino, who clocks in at 164e world level, worse than its rival, ranked 162e in the world, after an hour and 35 minutes on court no 11.
The British Columbian will face Croatian Lucija Ciric Bagaric in the second round, who surprised the seventh seed in the qualifying table, Arina Rodionova, in two sets of 6-4, 6-3.
Canadian Marina Stakusic also won her first qualifying match, defeating Spaniard Marina Bassols Ribera 6-1, 6-4. The Ontarian will meet in the next round with the Croatian Antonia Ruzic, who barely defeated the British Heather Watson 6-3, 5-7 and 6-1 in the first round.
On the men’s side, Quebecer Alexis Galarneau lost 7-5, 6-3 to Frenchman Quentin Halys in the first round of the qualifying table.
Yesterday, Quebecer Gabriel Diallo, 166e world racket, defeated the Argentinian Genaro Alberto Olivieri 7-5, 6-7 (4) and 6-1. The Montrealer will face Argentinian Marco Trungelleti in the second round.
At the end of the day, Ontarian Carol Zhao lost 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 against Japanese Mai Hontama, 13e seeded in the qualifying table. The match lasted two hours 58 minutes.