Canada's Fernandez draws Muchova in tough opening match at Paris Games

PARIS — Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Que., faces a tough first-round match in the women's singles at the Paris Olympics

The Paris Games organizers conducted the draws for the five Olympic tennis brackets on Thursday.

Fernandez, the 16th seed, will play Czech player Karolina Muchova, a 2023 French Open finalist, on Saturday the first round on the clay courts of Roland Garros. Muchova, ranked 29th in the world, won their only previous encounter in 2022 on hard courts in Miami.

Bianca Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., will meet Denmark's Clara Tauson, ranked 63rd in the world, in her opening match on Saturday.

In the men's draw, Montreal's Félix Auger-Aliassime, the 13th seed, will also start his campaign Saturday against American Marcos Giron, ranked 38th.

Auger-Aliassime reached the quarterfinals in Gstaad, Switzerland last week and had a strong clay court season, including a final at the Madrid Masters and a round of 16 at Roland Garros. The 24-year-old has won three of his four previous matches against Giron.

Auger-Aliassime, who lost in the first round of singles at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, will also compete in men's doubles with Milos Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., and in mixed doubles with Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski.

Raonic and Auger-Aliassime will face Americans Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz, the third seeds, in the first round. Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime will play against the British duo of Heather Watson and Joe Salisbury.

Fernandez and Dabrowski, a winner of 16 women's doubles titles, will play France's Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva on Saturday in the first round of the women's doubles. The Canadians are the seeded fifth.

Raonic, 33, participating in his first Olympics since London 2012, will face Germany's Dominik Koepfer in the opening round of men's singles on Sunday.

Canada has won only one Olympic tennis medal when Sébastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor triumphed in the men's doubles at the 2000 Sydney Games.

However, the country has been experiencing a surge on the international stage in team events. The men's team won the Davis Cup in 2022, and the women's team lifted the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2024.