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.
Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino will take on 24-year-old Magdalena Frech of Poland. The two are evenly matched with Frech ranking 104th to Marino’s ranking of 112th.
The winner will be in tough in the second round, with No. 7-ranked Simona Halep of Romania waiting after her first-round bye.
On the men’s side, Denis Shapovalov drew Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler, ranked 99th in the world, whereas world No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime’s opponent will be determined in qualifying.
Vernon, B.C., native Vasek Pospisil fell short in his march towards potentially making the main draw after losing 6-3, 2-6, 5-7 to Italy’s Andreas Seppi in a second-round qualifying match on 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.
