Canada’s Bianca Andreescu to make her return at French Open

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Canadian tennis star Bianca Andreescu will make her anticipated return to action at the French Open.

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Andreescu was in Thursday’s official draw for the clay-court Grand Slam event and will face Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo. The 23-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., hasn’t played since August after injuring her back at the women’s National Bank Open in Montreal.

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The 2019 U.S. Open champion had her best career performance at Roland-Garros last year when she reached the third round.

Andreescu has won her only previous meeting with Sorribes Tormo in the quarterfinals of the 2021 Miami Open.

The other Canadians in the main draw are Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Que., on the women’s side, and Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo, both from Montreal, along with Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., on the men’s side.

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The 22-year-old Diallo advanced to his first career Grand Slam main draw with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Alexander Ritschard on Thursday in the final round of men’s qualifying.

Nineteen-year-old Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., can advance to her first Grand Slam main draw when she faces Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva on Friday in the final round of the women’s qualifying tournament.

The 23-year-old Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in the world, will open against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan.

Auger-Aliassime improved to 3-2 against Nishioka last month in the first round of the Madrid Open en route to reaching his first career Masters final. However, Nishioka won their only previous meeting at the French Open in the first round of the 2020 tournament.

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Auger-Alaissime will be participating in his fifth straight French Open main draw, with his best result coming in 2022 when he lost to clay-court legend Rafael Nadal in the round of 16.

Shapovalov, 25, will open his sixth French Open against Luca Van Assche. Shapovalov made it to the third round last year before losing to top seed Carlos Alcaraz.

Fernandez returns to Roland-Garros for the fifth time and will face Jessika Ponchet of France in the first round. Fernandez, the world No. 33 on the WTA Tour, reached the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros in 2022.

In doubles, Shapovalov will team with Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis on the men’s side, while Fernandez will join with Canadian-born Erin Routliffe of New Zealand in the women’s draw.

Rob Shaw of North Bay, Ont., will play in both singles and doubles wheelchair quad events. He made his French Open debut last year, where he reached his second quad wheelchair doubles Grand Slam final.

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