Leylah Annie Fernandez is heading to the third round, while fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov has been eliminated at the French Open.
Fernandez, an 18-year-old from Laval, Que., beat world No. 47 Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in a second-round women’s match on Thursday at the clay-court Grand Slam.
Shapovalov, the No. 9 seed in the men’s draw from Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 to Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in a five-hour match in the second round. Shapovalov was the last Canadian remaining in the men’s draw.
Shapovalov missed two chances to serve out the match before falling to Carballes Baena, ranked 101st in the world, in cool conditions.
“Honestly I feel like the conditions were as tough as possible for me to play against here, with the balls being just so heavy and it being really cold,” Shapovalov said. “I mean, I play an aggressive game, I like to step in, and I mean he just had so much time. So it was very difficult.”
Shapovalov later posted a message to Twitter where he appeared to take exception to a ruling during the 10th game of the fifth set when he was serving with a chance to win the match.
He lamented the fact that Hawkeye, a line-calling technology used for tennis, has not been implemented for clay court events.
When will we have Hawkeye on clay? <a href=”https://twitter.com/atptour?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@atptour</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/rolandgarros?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@rolandgarros</a> <a href=”https://t.co/neTqwglkbD”>pic.twitter.com/neTqwglkbD</a>
Shapovalov, who said he hurt a hamstring during the match, fell short of reaching the third round at the French Open for the first time in his career. He made it to the second round in 2018 and lost in the first round last year.
Off the court, Shapovalov wasn’t happy with the job done by organizers during the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the situation at the U.S. Open in New York was “way better.”
“Yeah, honestly I think they’re not doing a good job. There’s really no bubble, especially in the second hotel I heard,” he said.
WATCH | Shapovalov ousted in 5 sets:
No. 9 seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3, 3-6, 8-6 to Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain in a five-hour match in the second round of the French Open. 3:57
“Scheduling is absolutely awful. I mean, after a five-hour match I have to play doubles now. It’s just like, it’s just complete trash scheduling. It’s disappointing. I mean you’re in a Grand Slam and I don’t want to sound spoiled, you know, but you expect at least some help from the tournament to help you compete.”
Shapovalov and partner Rohan Bopanna of India later fell to Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock in a first-round doubles match.
Shapovalov was coming off a run to the semifinals on clay at the Italian Open. He made the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open last month.
Carballes Baena will face No. 18 seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria in the third round.
Fernandez, meanwhile, is making her main-draw debut at the tournament after winning the girls’ division at the French Open last year. She’ll face No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, a two-time Wimbledon champion, in the third round.
Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., advanced to the third round of the women’s draw on Wednesday. She’ll face world No. 54 Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., lost in the first round in her Grand Slam debut at this year’s Australian Open before falling in the second round at the U.S. Open last month.
When asked what she’s happiest about, Fernandez said, “”Mostly my fight and hard work.
“These two players (she beat No. 31 seed Magda Linette in the first round) are great players … both top-50 players for a reason so it wasn’t going to be easy. I’m happy to get that one more ball back in and fight through the end.”
WATCH | Fernandez into 3rd round:
The 18-year-old from Laval, Que., beat world No. 47 Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to advance to the third round of the French Open. 3:10
Fernandez joins Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., in the third round. Bouchard will face world No. 54 Iga Swiatek of Poland on Friday.
Fernandez has enjoyed previous success on the clay courts at Roland Garros, winning the girls’ title last year before making the jump to the pros.
“It’s honestly really difficult transitioning from juniors to professionals,” said Fernandez, who is ranked 100th in the world. “I know Coco (Gauff) makes it seems like its’ easy but it’s hard. You’ve got to get used to the pace, to the heaviness of the balls. Juniors is still fast and still heavy, but not the same as the pros.”
Fernandez will next face No. 7 seed Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Kvitova won Wimbledon titles in 2011 and 2014.
“It won’t be an easy match,” Fernandez said. “She’s a great player, won a few grand slams and went through some difficult times (Kvitova was the victim of a knife attack in 2016) and still bounced back to being in the top 10,” Fernandez said.
“I remember since I started playing tennis, watching her winning the Wimbledon championship, the way she played was really inspiring.”
Earlier Thursday, former champion Jelena Ostapenko ousted second seed Karolina Pliskova with a 6-4 6-2 win in the second round after an error-ridden performance from the Czech player.
Latvian Ostapenko, who won the 2017 title as an unseeded player, played aggressively from the start and hit 27 winners as a strangely subdued Pliskova struggled to rein in her unforced errors under the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.
WATCH | Jelena Ostapenko ousts Karolina Pliskova in Paris:
2017 champion and world No. 43 player Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia eliminated Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the French Open. 1:25
No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic’s won his second-round match easily with a 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ricardas Berankis.
Djokovic has dropped a total of only 10 games so far on his way to the third round in Paris. He won the title at Roland Garros in 2016 to complete a career Grand Slam.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
