It’s over for the Canadians in singles at Wimbledon.
Ontarian Denis Shapovalov and his compatriot Bianca Andreescu lowered their flag on Thursday in the second round of the major tournament taking place at the All England Club.
Shapovalov, the tournament’s 13th seed, lost 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(6) after a frustrating two-hour, 19-minute duel against American Brandon Nakashima.
For his part, Andreescu folded the spine 6-4.7-6 (5) in front of the Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
For his part, Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime had been ousted in the first round on Tuesday, just like British Columbian Rebecca Marino the day before.
Shapovalov, who is from Richmond Hills, certainly had seven aces, against none for Nakashima, but he also committed eight double faults, while his rival was irreproachable in this regard.
Shapovalov, who was trying to line up two straight victories for the first time since the Rome tournament in May, was however messy in many phases of the game. He was notably outplayed 30-14 in terms of unforced errors, and he was limited to just one break point — which he converted, luckily for him.
For his part, Nakashima played inspired tennis, and he had four breaks in six opportunities on the London lawn. The American, 56th player in the world, will meet Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan, 109th in the world, in the third round.
Earlier in the day, Andreescu suffered the same fate in his duel against Rybakina, who won after an hour and 37 minutes on court no 12.
Rybakina, one of the most powerful players on the women’s circuit, once again bet on her serve to overcome her opponent. She outshot Andreescu 4-2 in aces, winning 80% of the points with her first serve.
For her part, the Maple Leaf representative stayed in the game by limiting errors — she committed fewer double faults (4-3) and unforced errors (20-16) than Rybakina.
The Kazakh, however, converted three of her four break points, while Andreescu was limited to two breaks in three opportunities.
The Canadian, 56th player in the world, had never passed the first round in her two previous participations (2017 and 2021) at the Wimbledon tournament.
Rybakina, 17th seed, will have an appointment in the next round with the Chinese Qinwen Zheng, 52nd racket in the world.
Small consolation, Ontarian Gabriela Dabrowski and her Mexican playing partner Giuliana Olmos defeated Belgian Yanina Wickmeyer and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-7 (2), 6-3 and 6-2 in the first round of the women’s doubles tournament.