No Canadians left in U.S. Open singles play as Fernandez, Marino exit in 1st round

There are no Canadians left in the singles tournaments at the U.S. Open.

Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was bounced from the Grand Slam tournament after a 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-4 loss to 22nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova on Tuesday.

Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino then lost to Romania’s Patricia Tig 7-6 (6), 7-6 (1) hours later.

They were the last two Canadians playing in the singles brackets after Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., and Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime were eliminated from the men’s tournament on Monday.

WATCH l Fernandez eliminated in 3 hour match:

Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino, the last Canadian still alive in singles play, faced Romania’s Patricia Tig later Tuesday.

Fernandez, a finalist at the Grand Slam in 2022, was up 4-3 in the decisive third set after scoring a break in the seventh game.

But Alexandrova got that break right back to tie the set 4-4, and, after a hold, picked up her eighth break to win the match in just over three hours.

WATCH l Marino falls to Romania’s Tig:

Rebecca Marino suffers 1st round exit at U.S. Open

Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino fell to Patricia Maria Tig of Romania 7-6(6), 7-6(1) in the first Round of the 2023 U.S. Open in New York.

Fernandez, who entered the tournament ranked 67th in the world, saw her record this season drop to 24-19.

Marino had eight aces to Tig’s two, but won only 36 receiving points to her opponent’s 42.

She is now 17-21 this season.

WATCH | Raonic eliminated by Tsitsipas:

Canada’s Raonic ousted by Tsitsipas of Greece in 1st round of U.S. Open

Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., falls to Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 in the opening round of the U.S. Open.

Venus Williams suffers lopsided defeat

Venus Williams’ 100th career U.S. Open match produced her most lopsided loss at the Grand Slam tournament where she won the trophy in 2000 and 2001.

Williams, at 43 the oldest player in the field, was eliminated 6-1, 6-1 by Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen at muggy Arthur Ashe Stadium in the first round on Tuesday night.

The first 21 times Williams entered the U.S. Open, she went 21-0 in the first round. But this was her third consecutive opening-round loss at Flushing Meadows.

The 26-year-old Minnen was born in August 1997, the month before Williams reached the U.S. Open final for the first time.

Williams — whose younger sister, Serena, retired from tennis after last year’s U.S. Open — owns seven major championships, including five at Wimbledon.

But she has lost in the first or second round in each of her past 12 Slam appearances.

The spectators on Tuesday seemed thrilled just to get a chance to see her play in person, sending her toward the locker room with a standing ovation. Williams gave a quick wave and a smile as she walked off, her red racket bag slung over her left shoulder.

The temperature was in the low 20s Celsius, but the humidity was 90%, and Williams was not able to stay in the points with Minnen.

It was quickly 3-0, with Williams — owner of what used to be one of the most intimidating serves in the game — broken twice right away. She lost each of her first half-dozen second-serve points.

Minnen did what she could to keep Williams off-balance and it worked.

Medvedev prevails in 74 minutes

Daniil Medvedev sent an early message this U.S. Open might be more than a two-man race between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

The 2021 champion rolled into the second round Tuesday, beating Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 in one hour 14 minutes.

About 12 hours after Djokovic won easily in his return to the U.S. Open, the No. 3-seeded Medvedev looked just as impressive as when he beat Djokovic for the 2021 title to deny the 23-time major champion from Serbia what would have been the first calendar-year Grand Slam in men’s tennis since 1969.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the second round when his opponent, Dominik Koepfer, stopped playing while trailing 6-2, 3-2.

Koepfer turned his ankle on the match’s eighth point and, while he initially continued after getting treated, eventually conceded.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime knocked out of U.S. Open:

Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime falls in upset loss to American McDonald at U.S. Open

Mackenzie McDonald of the United States defeats 15th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the opening round of the U.S. Open.

Alcaraz edged Djokovic for the title at Wimbledon, after Djokovic eliminated the Spaniard in the semifinals en route to the French Open title.

Medvedev certainly has the game to compete with either on the hard courts of the U.S. Open, where the Russian was also the runner-up to Rafael Nadal in 2019 before winning his first major two years later.

The women’s No. 3 seed, Jessica Pegula, also moved on quickly with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Camila Giorgi.

The schedule also featured a number of veteran U.S. Open champions. Venus Williams, 43, who won two of her seven Grand Slam singles titles at Flushing Meadows, was scheduled to play before Alcaraz on Arthur Ashe Stadium against qualifier Greet Minnen of Belgium.

Andy Murray, who won the 2012 U.S. Open title, advanced in straight sets but needed nearly three hours to do it, beating Corentin Moutet 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.

Stan Wawrinka, who won the trophy in 2016, followed Murray’s victory on the Grandstand.

No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur, who lost in last year’s final to Iga Swiatek, was checked by a trainer and was coughing and blowing her noise during her match before getting past Camila Osorio 7-5, 7-6 (4).

No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus also advanced, taking down Belgium’s Maryna Zanevska 6-3, 6-2.

Also ousted was No. 7 Caroline Garcia, a 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist who was routed 6-4, 6-1 by Chinese qualifier Wang Yafan. But Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, the No. 9 seed, advanced easily by knocking out qualifier Na Lae Han 6-3, 6-0 in an hour.

Other seeded winners on the men’s side included No. 12 Alexander Zverev and No. 16 Cam Norrie. No. 11 seed Karen Khachanov, who reached the semifinals last year, lost 6-2, 6-4, 6-2 to American wild card Michael Mmoh; and No. 29 Ugo Humbert of France was swept by Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

Complaints about pot smell

The smell of marijuana has become a stink at the U.S. Open.

One court in particular is notorious for smelling, as one player put it, “like Snoop Dogg’s living room.”

Court 17 is located in the extreme southwest corner of the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, adjacent to Corona Park, and players and security staffers alike believe the park is the source of the smell.

Eighth-seeded Maria Sakkari complained about the odour during and after her first-round loss on Monday.

But there may not be much the United States Tennis Association can do. It’s legal in New York for adults 21 and older to possess cannabis, and they can smoke or vape it wherever smoking tobacco is allowed.