There were three Canadians entered in the tennis singles draws at the 2026 United States Open in Flushing Meadows, New York. and all three Canadians have advanced to round two. In women’s action, the 31st seed Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec defeated Shuai Zheng of China on Sunday, 6-3, 6-2. In men’s action, Dennis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario defeated Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Sunday, and the third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, defeated Ricky Hijikata of Australia, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on Monday.
Fernandez, the 2021 United States Open finalist, had four aces while Zhang had zero aces. Fernandez broke Zhang three times in seven opportunities and was never broken herself. Fernandez’s next opponent will be Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand, the 94th ranked player in the world. This will be their first ever meeting.
Shapovalov, the 48th ranked player in the world, had 19 aces compared to three for Kecmanovic. Shapovalov also had a first serve winning percentage of 85%, while Kecmanovic was only at 61%. Shapovalov had 64 winners, while Kecmanovic only had 23 winners. Shapovalov will next play Luca Van Assche of France, the 40th ranked player in the world. Shapovalov won their only prior meeting, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the 2024 French Open.
Auger-Aliassime had 17 aces compared to five for Hijikata. Auger-Aliassime had 48 winners compared to 25 for Hijikata. Next up for Auger-Aliassime is Karen Khachanov of Russia, the 50th ranked player in the world, and two-time grand slam semifinalist. Khachanov made the semifinals of the United States Open in 2022 and the Australian Open in 2023.
Like Khachanov, Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov have made the grand slam semifinals too. Auger-Aliassime made the final four of the United States Open in 2021 and 2025, and Shapovalov made the final four of Wimbledon in 2021.
Khachanov and Auger-Aliassime have beaten each other twice. Khachanov won 6-7, 7-5, 6-3 in the third round of the 2019 Rogers Cup in Montreal, and 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in the second round of Halle in 2025. Auger-Aliassime won 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of Cincinnati in 2021, and 7-6, 6-4 in the second round of ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2022.
