Team Canada tennis players make strong start to Paris 2024 tournament
There was lots of action on the courts of Roland-Garros for Team Canada on Day 2 of Paris 2024. Heavy rain on Day 1 resulted in multiple matches being moved to Day 2, during which the sun was shining in the city of Paris, and also on Canadian players.
Félix Auger-Aliassime started things off for Team Canada with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Marcos Giron of the United States, moving on to the second round of men’s singles.
At the same time, Bianca Andreescu was victorious over Denmark’s Clara Tauson, 6-2. 6-3, in women’s singles.
Both players remarked on how special the Olympic environment was, even for players for whom Roland-Garros may be a familiar venue.
“You can feel the excitement of everybody being present,” Auger-Aliassime said post-match. “This is not an event that’s every year like Roland-Garros, this is once every four years. You could feel the excitement for the players as well, the intensity was high from the beginning, but I was able to break through and I was able to have a great start which was great to start a tournament like this, taking care of what’s in my control, especially my serve.”
“I don’t think there’s any words to describe this,” Andreescu said of her Olympic debut. “The crowd, first of all, were incredible from both sides. It’s a super fun atmosphere. I mean, it’s the Olympics, it’s not like an every year opportunity. So I think I embraced it really well and I hope to continue to do that.”
Later in the day, Leylah Annie Fernandez took on Czechia’s Karolina Muchova, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-2.
“I’m super happy to have gotten my very first win here in Paris at the Olympics,” said Fernandez post-match. “It’s a very special feeling hearing the crowd cheering me on. I got goosebumps. It was electrifying for me because last Olympics we didn’t have that. In this Olympics, it’s a different energy.”
Fernandez was originally supposed to double back for another match, this time in the women’s doubles with Gaby Dabrowski versus Team France, however scheduling delays resulted in the match being postponed once again.
Later in the day, Milos Raonic faced German Dominik Koepfer in the first round of the men’s singles tournament.
After winning the first set 7-6 in a tiebreaker, the powerful Canadian server saw Koepfer come back to win the final two sets, both also decided by tiebreakers.
Raonic’s journey doesn’t end there, as he will be back in action alongside Auger-Aliassime for their first match in the men’s doubles tournament. They will face Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
Andreescu will play against Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the second round of the women’s singles, and Fernandez will face Spain’s Cristina Bucsa, also in the second round of the women’s singles. Fernandez will also compete in the first round of the women’s doubles, teaming up with Dabrowski to play against the French pair Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva.