Tennis

Canadian Open 2023 Wildcards – Who Got the Invite

Interested in checking out who was lucky enough to receive one of the Canadian Open wildcards for 2023? You’re in the right spot. Right here, I will be covering who received one of these wildcards, why they received one, and I will also be tracking these players throughout the event. Of course, once the last of the Canadian Open wildcards is out of the draw, my updates on such players will end.

Canadian Open Wildcards 2023

However, in the meantime, for as long as these players remain in the draw, I will be providing updates on their performances. This way, you can keep your finger on the pulse and ‘be in the know’ about these players throughout the 2023 Canadian Open. All of these details are shared below, so let’s get started.

Canadian Open Wildcards – Updates for August 11th

At this point in the 2023 National Bank Open, it would be a surprise to see a range of Canadian Open wildcards littered around the draw. And as expected, the wildcards have largely succumbed to their respective opponents as we reach the quarter-finals stage. In fact, both the Canadian Open ATP wildcards and Canadian Open WTA wildcards have all exited the tournament in the singles. Yet there is one wildcard left flying the flag, and this wildcard relates to a partnership in the Canadian Open women’s doubles event.

Anyway, since there was plenty of action involving the wildcards yesterday, let me give you a rundown of what occurred before looking into the last remaining wildcard for 2023.

Toronto Open Wildcards – End of the Line

Following the updates from yesterday, as you’ll recall if you’ve been tuning in, just Milos Raonic was left in the men’s singles draw. However, he fell in straight sets to Mackenzie McDonald, which was a bit of a surprise, if I’m being perfectly honest. Sure, McDonald has been playing well, yet Raonic was on home turf and he was also playing great tennis. With that said, it wasn’t meant to be, and Milos Raonic has become the final victim of all the wildcards, as per the result listed below:

  • McDonald beat Raonic (WC) – 6-3 6-3

Of course, this is the official end of the road for the wildcards in the men’s singles event.

Montreal Open Wildcards – Hopes Pinned on Doubles Partnership

Once again, if you checked out my Canadian Open wildcards update from Thursday, August 10th, you’d know that it was Leylah Fernandez who was the one remaining singles player left in the draw. She had also been playing some solid tennis, much like Milos Raonic in the men’s event, and she even beat the 11th seed in the second round. However, she went up against an in-form Danielle Collins, in the third round. 

While yes, Collins was a qualifier, she’s playing out of her skin at the Canadian Open, and she took out Fernandez by the following score:

  • Collins beat Fernandez (WC) – 6-2 6-3

This puts the final nail in the coffin for the singles wildcards, but hope endures in the form of a Stakusic/Zhao – a pair of Canadians left in the women’s doubles. They are going up against the 4th seeds later today, which will obviously be a tough challenge. Yet if they are somehow able to pull off this second-round upset, who knows, maybe they can go all the way!

Canadian Open Wildcards 2023 – August 10th Updates

It’s always fun to track the wildcards in any tournament. These players have been given an opportunity to play in the main draw despite not making the cut because of their ranking. And in the case of the Montreal Open wildcards, as well as the Toronto Open wildcards, it’s been an interesting few days. As of today, August 10th, most of the Canadian Open wildcards have exited the tournament. But not all of them have been taken out by higher-ranked opponents, as you are about to find out.

Anyway, to know how these Canadian Open wildcards are faring in the event, you need to know what the latest updates are. And following the results from the National Bank Open yesterday, I’ve got some interesting details to share. So let’s dive into it.

Canadian Open ATP Wildcards

If you tuned in for my update on the Toronto Open wildcards yesterday, you’ll know that Milos Raonic and Gabriel Diallo were the two guys left in the draw. Both of these guys competed yesterday too, but how did they get on? Well, it was a 50% success rate for the wildcards, meaning one of them went out while one of them went through to the third round. As for specifics, you can view the results of these games below:

  • De Minaur beat Diallo (WC) – 6-4 7-5
  • Raonic (WC) beat Daniel – 6-4 6-3

Unfortunately, Diallo wasn’t able to beat the talented Australian, de Minaur. However, as you can tell from the scoreline, he certainly gave de Minaur a run for his money. But regardless of the two tight sets, Diallo is the third of the Canadian Open wildcards in the men’s event to exit the tournament. Yet for Milos Raonic, his return to this event continues. Raonic produced a solid display to beat Taro Daniel, a qualifier, and he now faces Mackenzie McDonald in the third round. 

To be honest, Raonic is more than capable of beating McDonald too, even if the American did beat the 6th seed, Rublev, in the previous round. So I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he makes it into the quarter-finals later this evening.

Canadian Open WTA Wildcards

As the tournament finished the remaining second-round matches in the women’s singles yesterday, just two Montreal Open wildcards remained. These players were Caroline Wozniacki and Leylah Fernandez, and both faced tough opponents last night. As for the results, it was a mirror image of the outcomes for the Canadian Open wildcards in the men’s event. Just one of them made it through to the third round while the other lost, as revealed in the results below:

  • Fernandez (WC) beat Haddad Maia (11th seed) – 7-5 5-7 6-3
  • Vondrousova (9th seed) beat Wozniacki (WC) – 6-2 7-5

As you can see, both wildcards had a very tough draw to face these players in the second round. And concerning the results, Wozniacki fell to the recent Wimbledon champion in straight sets. However, Leylah Fernandez has kept things alive for the Canadian Open wildcards with a big win over the 11th seed, Haddad Maia. She now faces a qualifier in the form of Danielle Collins too, which is not a bad draw!

2023 Canadian Open Wildcards – August 9th Updates

As we approach the midpoint of the 2023 National Bank Open, you wouldn’t expect many wildcards to remain in the draw. After all, by nature, a wildcard is someone that hasn’t reached the main draw due to their ranking. Therefore, they’ve been awarded one as a bit of a gesture of goodwill by the tournament organizers, whether on merit or for other reasons. But regardless of the reasons for these wildcards being issued, we can still track them all throughout the Canadian Open. 

If you recall from yesterday’s update, one of the men’s wildcards, Milos Raonic, did rather well too. He took out the number 9 seed, Frances Tiafoe, in what was a true thriller. And to emphasize his success compared to the other wildcards, he was just one of five wildcards who played on August 7th that managed to win his match. All others fell by the wayside. 

However, yesterday saw the remaining Canadian Open wildcards take to the courts, so how did they get on? Well, let me show you right now.

Toronto Open Wildcards – Men’s Events

There was just one remaining wildcard left to compete in the men’s singles yesterday, and that man was Gabriel Diallo. He was drawn against the recent Citi Open champion, Daniel Evans, who despite reaching a career-high of 21 as of the recent ATP rankings updates, wasn’t seeded. That’s because the draw was done before these new rankings came out. Anyway, it was always going to be a very tough contest, especially with the kind of form that Dan Evans is in. But amazingly, Diallo got the better of Evans, as shown in the result below:

  • Diallo (WC) beat Evans – 7-6 7-5

When you consider that Diallo is ranked 141 while Evans is ranked 21, this is a simply huge victory for the 21-year-old. Yet he now faces another big challenge in the second round, as he is due to play Alex de Minaur, who took out the 11th seed, Cam Norrie, yesterday. 

Montreal Open Wildcards – Women’s Events

In the men’s event, as highlighted above, two of the four Canadian Open wildcards made it into the second round. Therefore, this means that the wildcards had a 50% success rate in the opening round, which isn’t bad at all. As for the women’s wildcards, just two of them played on August 7th, and they both lost. But things have now picked up in the women’s singles event, as demonstrated by the results shown here:

  • Fernandez (WC) beat Stearns – 6-3 6-2
  • Wozniacki (WC) beat Birrell – 6-2 6-2
  • Giorgi beat Andreescu (WC) – 6-3 6-2

Interestingly, Canada’s top-ranked player, Andreescu, was the only one of these three wildcards to lose yesterday. Then again, she was drawn against a player that won this tournament just two years ago, which should be taken into account. As for the others, it’s been a successful start to the event. And as a result, Fernandez will now face the 11th seed, Haddad Maia, whereas Wozniacki will face the 9th seed, Vondrousova.

Canadian Open Wildcards – August 8th Updates

Yesterday saw the beginning of the tournament for several Canadian Open wildcards. And for a few of them, it was a successful opening round. Of course, for others, it was the end of the road, yet many wildcards put up a good fight before exiting the tournament early. With this said, I should clarify that the wildcards who were in action were involved in both events. This means that the Toronto Open wildcards were in action for the men’s singles, and the Montreal Open wildcards were in action for the women’s singles. 

As for what went down, I will be discussing such details in the respective sections below. At the same time, I’ll be giving an insight into the Canadian Open wildcards that are due to play today. So, with these games approaching quickly, we’d better get these updates taken care off right away!

Canadian Open ATP Wildcards

As detailed in my initial preview of the Canadian Open wildcards for 2023, there were four of them issued in the men’s event. Of these four wildcards that were granted, all of which went to Canadian players, three of them were in action yesterday. In fact, the only player that wasn’t in action was Gabriel Diallo. And the reason he didn’t play yesterday was because he is scheduled to play against Dan Evans, who won the event in Washington DC last week. Of course, these two are due to play today, and it could make for an interesting watch.

As for the other three Canadian Open ATP wildcards, their results can be viewed here:

  • Arnaldi beat Pospisil (WC) – 6-4 6-4
  • F. Cerundolo beat Galarneau (WC) – 6-2 4-6 6-4
  • Raonic (WC) beat Tiafoe (9th seed) – 6-7 7-6 6-3

As displayed above, it’s game over for Pospisil and Galarneau. However, Galarneau put up a great fight against Cerundolo. And while Raonic was given the worst draw of the bunch, he overcame Frances Tiafoe in a three-set thriller to advance to the second round. He will now face the qualifier, Taro Daniel, for a spot in the third round. Of course, this is a great opportunity for Raonic to make a deep draw run following this opening win.

Canadian Open WTA Wildcards

For this year’s event, as referenced before the start of the tournament, the women’s singles saw five wildcards issued by the relevant authorities. However, just two of the five actually played yesterday. These wildcards were Venus Williams and Rebecca Marino, and neither of them had any joy in their opener. Here are the results of their matches from round one:

  • Boulter beat Marino (WC) – 6-3 6-1
  • Keys beat Williams (WC) – 6-2 7-5

Because of these results, just three Canadian Open WTA wildcards are left in the draw, and they will all play today! So if you are looking to watch them compete, make sure you tune in from 16:00 UK time. As for the exact matches and opponents for these wildcards, here they are:

  • Wozniacki (WC) vs Birrell 
  • Fernandez (WC) vs Stearns
  • Andreescu (WC) vs Giorgi

2023 Canadian Open Wildcards – A Quick Overview

To get right to the point, there were four Canadian Open ATP wildcards awarded this year. At the same time, there were five Canadian Open WTA wildcards awarded, showing that there were nine wildcards issued in total. This is fairly common for tournaments at the 1000 level, and as expected, the bulk of the wildcards were given to Canadian players. After all, it’s the ‘Canadian Open’, so the organizers are within their rights to stimulate Canadian interest and help their players out. 

As for specific details of these Canadian Open wildcards, I have highlighted them below. Additionally, if you wish to check out when the players that received wildcards are playing, I’d advise monitoring the Canadian Open schedule during the week. 

Canadian Open WTA Wildcards

I mentioned earlier that there are five Toronto Open wildcards for the women’s singles this year. This is consistent with previous years, and there are a couple of interesting allocations for 2023. On that note, please see the Canadian Open WTA wildcards right here:

Bianca Andreescu

The first of five wildcards that I must point out is Bianca Andreescu. At 44 in the world, Andreescu would have been in the Canadian Open qualifying draw had she not received a wildcard. Then again, as the highest-ranked Canadian at the moment, she was always going to get the golden ticket here.

Leylah Fernandez

Fernandez has endured a tough 2023 season. She’s had a few injuries and been dealt some ropey draws in big events, and combined, this has caused her ranking to plummet down to 88. However, she’s made the finals of the US Open in the past, so she deserves the wildcard, in my opinion.

Rebecca Marino

Rebecca Marino is the third-highest-ranked Canadian at the moment. She is number 90 in the world, which means she is just two spots behind Fernandez. And at 32 years of age, she’s more towards the ‘veteran’ side of things, as are the following two players too.

Caroline Wozniacki

The first three Canadian Open wildcards went to Canadian players, as you’ve seen. Yet the 4th wildcard has been issued to Carline Wozniacki. As you might recall, Wozniacki announced her retirement from the game not long ago. But she’s now on the comeback trail.

Venus Williams

The 5th and final wildcard goes to a player that needs no introduction. At 43 years of age, Venus Williams is flying the flag for the older generation. And amazingly, this is her 30th year on the WTA Tour – a staggering feat.

Canadian Open ATP Wildcards

Now that the five Canadian Open wildcards have been wrapped up for the women’s singles, let’s switch over to the men’s singles event. Interestingly, all four wildcards have gone to Canadian players this year, and you can see who they are below:

Gabriel Diallo

This guy is just 21 years of age, and he is one of the most promising Canadian youngsters at the moment. He is a talented player that has bounced around the Challenger Circuit in recent times, yet he is now a top 150 player. As a result, he’s been granted one of the four Canadian Open wildcards.

Alexis Galarneau

Galarneau is slightly older than Diallo at 24 years of age, and he is ranked just outside of the top 150 in the world. As for the justification for his wildcard, Galarneau recently won a Challenger title in Granby, Canada. So he has certainly received his wildcard on merit.

Vasek Pospisil

For the remaining two Montreal Open wildcards, we come to the veterans of Canadian tennis. First and foremost, Vasek Pospisil has been granted a wildcard. At 33 years of age, he is the oldest of these four wildcard players, and he has a current ranking of 167 in the world. 

Milos Raonic

Last but not least, the legendary Milos Raonic has also received a wildcard for the 2023 Canadian Open. You’ve got to respect what this man has done throughout his career, and the fact that he has battled back through many injuries is admirable. Furthermore, he’s a two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist, and he even competed in the Wimbledon final back in 2016. So really, it would be a surprise if Milos Raonic didn’t receive one of the four Canadian Open wildcards for 2023.


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