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Top Canadians Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov will get back on the horse, after disappointing early exits last week at the ATP 250 in Munich.
They have more time to wait and think; with the 96-player draw they will have first-round byes and won’t play until almost the weekend.
On the women’s side Leylah Fernandez, who also will have a first-round bye, makes her 2025 clay-court debut. And Bianca Andreescu plays her first WTA 1000 in … awhile.
Final tally: two runner-up trophies: Liam Draxl in a heartbreaker in the Savannah Challenger, and Kayla Cross in doubles at the $100K ITF in Charlottesville.
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Mutua Madrid Open
Madrid, Spain (ATP/WTA 1000)
Men’s singles
[18] Félix Auger-Aliassime
1st rd: Bye
2nd rd: lost to [Q] Juan Manuel Cerundolo (ARG) 76 (5) 64
[29] Denis Shapovalov
1st rd: Bye
2nd rd: def Kei Nishikori (JPN) 61 64
3rd rd: vs. [6] Alex de Minaur (AUS) (Monday)
[LL] Gabriel Diallo
1st rd: def. Zizou Bergs (BEL) 61 62
2nd rd: def. [2] Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) [LL] Kamil Majchrzak (POL) 75 46 64
3rd rd: vs. Cameron Norrie (GBR) (Monday)
Women’s singles
[25] Leylah Fernandez
1st rd: Bye
2nd rd: lost to Ann Li (USA) 64 36 64
[PR] Bianca Andreescu
1st rd: def McCartney Kessler (USA) 62 64
2nd rd: lost to [10] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) 63 62
Women’s doubles
[1] Gabriela Dabrowski / Erin Routliffe (NZL)
1st rd: lost to Sorana Cirstea (ROU) / Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 63 46 [10-7]
Leylah Fernandez / Yulia Putintseva (KAZ)
1st rd: lost to Storm Hunter / Ellen Perez (AUS) 67 (5) 64 [11-9]
Men’s singles qualifying
[3] Gabriel Diallo
1st rd: def Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (ESP) 63 63
Final rd: lost to [20] Borna Coric (CRO) 63 76 (6)
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Savannah Challenger
Savannah, GA (ATP Challenger)
Singles
[4] Liam Draxl
1st rd: def [Q] Garrett Johns (USA) 75 61
2nd rd: def [Q] Patrick Maloney (USA) 75 75
QF: def Oliver Crawford (USA) 63 67 (7) 62
SF: def [ALT] Genaro Alberto Olivieri (ARG) 75 64
F: lost to Nicolas Mejia (COL) 26 62 76 (3)
[7] Alexis Galarneau
Doubles
[2] Cleeve Harper / Ryan Seggerman (USA)
1st rd: def. Liam Draxl / Benjamin Sigouin (CAN) 62 62
QF: def [WC] Andres Martin / Govind Nanda (USA) 64 64
SF: lost to [4] Federico Agustin Gomez (ARG) / Luis David Martinez (VEN) 62 64
Liam Draxl / Benjamin Sigouin
1st rd: lost to [2] Cleeve Harper (CAN) / Ryan Seggerman (USA) 62 62
Singles qualifying
[ALT] Steven Diez
1st rd: lost to [7] Ryan Seggerman (USA) 63 36 63
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W100 Charlottesville
Charlottesville, VA (ITF W$100K)
Singles
Kayla Cross
1st rd: def [Q] Adreana Reami (USA) 61 62
2nd rd: lost to [8] Iryna Shymanovich (RUS) 62 64
Cadence Brace
1st rd: def [Q] Lia Karatancheva (BUL) 46 76 (2) 63
2nd rd: lost to [4] Laura Pigossi (BRA) WALKOVER
[WC] Annabelle Xu
1st rd: lost to [Q] Victoria Osuigwe (USA) 64 75
Carol Zhao
1st rd: lost to Irina Maria Bara (ROU) 60 60
Doubles
[4] Kayla Cross / Petra Hule (AUS)
1st rd: def Isabelle Barrera Aguirre (USA) / Sabastiani Leon (MEX) 64 63
QF: def Makenna Jones / Angela Kulikov (USA) 75 36 [10-8]
SF: def [1] Isabelle Haverlag (NED) / Valeriya Strakhova (UKR) 06 64 [10-8]
F: lost to [3] Maria Kozyreva / Iryna Shymanovich (RUS) 75 75
Singles qualifying
Ana Grubor
1st rd: lost to [9] Haley Giavara (USA) 64 64
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Ando Securities Open Tokyo 2025
Tokyo, Japan (ITF W$100K)
Singles
[2] Rebecca Marino
1st rd: def [Q] Ayano Shimizu (JPN) 46 62 63
2nd rd: def [Q] Haruka Kaji (JPN) 63 64
QF: lost to [6] Talia Gibson (AUS) 76 (3) 67 (4) 76 (3)
Doubles
Rebecca Marino / Ariana Arseneault
1st rd: def. Aoi Ito / Hiroko Kuwata (JPN) 46 62 [13-11]
QF: lost to Destanee Aiava / Maddison Inglis (AUS) 64 63
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Côte d’Ivoire Open 2
Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (ATP Challenger)
Singles
[WC] Taha Baadi (MAR)
1st rd: lost to Aryan Shah (IND) 76 (5) 62
Doubles
[WC] Taha Baadi / Eliakim Coulibaly (CIV)
1st rd: def. [1] Matt Hulme (AUS) / Thimen Loof (NED) 76 (4) 64
QF: lost to Constantin Bittoun Kouzmine (FRA) / Aziz Ouakaa (TUN) 67 (2) 62 [10-8]
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Roma Garden Open
Rome, Italy (ATP Challenger)
Doubles
Kelsey Stevenson / Simone Agostini (ITA)
1st rd: def [WC] Jacopo Bilardo / Jacopo Vasami (ITA) 64 63
QF: def [2] Siddhant Banthia (IND) / Alexander Donski (BUL) 64 36 [11-9]
SF: lost to Erik Grevelius / Adam Heinonen (FIN) 64 76 (10)
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Mardy Fish Children’s Foundation Tennis Championships
Vero Beach, Fla. (ITF $15K)
Singles
[1] Alvin Nicholas Tudorica
1st rd: lost to Victor Lilov (USA) 75 46 62
[2] Juan Carlos Aguilar
1st rd: def [Q] Joao Vitor Goncalves Ceolin (BRA) 63 62
2nd rd: lost to [WC] Keaton Hance (USA) 26 63 62
Doubles
[1] Juan Carlos Aguilar / Jamie Vance (USA)
1st rd: lost to Gustavo Ribeiro de Almeida (BRA) / Noah Johnston (USA) 76 (4) 63
Joshua Peck / Leonardo Vega (USA)
1st rd: def Alvin Nicholas Tudorica (CAN) / Bautista Vilcich (ARG) 64 62
QF: lost to [3] Peter Bertran (DOM) / Jesse Flores (CRC) 62 62
Alvin Nicholas Tudorica / Bautista Vilcich (ARG)
1st rd: lost to Joshua Peck (CAN) / Leonardo Vega (USA) 64 62
Singles qualifying
[6] Joshua Peck
1st rd: def Alejandro Hayen (MEX) 64 63
Final rd: lost to Justin Roberts (BAH) 63 76 (1)
[7] Mikael Arseneault
1st rd: lost to [WC] Ilija Palavestra (USA) 61 62
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Magic Hotel Tours by FTT
Monastir, Tunisia (ITF $15K)
Singles
[WC] Françoise Abanda
1st rd: lost to [3] Anastasiia Gureva (RUS) 63 76 (9)
Doubles
Anna Tabunshchyk / Abigeyle Bhopal
1st rd: def. Eva Lopez (AUS) / Angeles Rodriguez-Rizo (MEX) 64 60
QF: lost to [2] Han Jiangxue (CHN) / Milana Zhabrailova (RUS) 64 57 [10-5]
Singles qualifying
Anna Tabunshchyk
1st rd: def Yoana Moneva (BUL) 61 60
2nd rd: lost to [14] Niimi Koharu (JPN) 62 61
Abigeyle Bhopal
1st rd: lost to Mariia Nozdrachova (UKR) 63 36 [10-5]
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2025 China Men’s 7 Luhan
Luan, China (ITF $15K)
Singles
[3] Filip Peliwo (POL)
1st rd: def
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About Post Author
Just curious as to why Diallo did not get in as LL. He was highest ranked 2nd round loser.
It’s not by the ranking, otherwise guys would tank in the qualifying if they knew going into the match that they already would have a spot because somebody pulled out.
They knew there were two spots, so they picked the top three-ranked players who lost in the final round and drew two at random (sometimes it’s the number of spots plus two; this time it was one).
So Diallo was one of the three, but the other two got picked. If someone else pulls out in today or tomorrow he’ll be next.
It worked out well for him at other tournaments, like Indian Wells. This time, not.
Update: as I expected, he got in. And won.