Bianca Andreescu to lead 5-member Canadian tennis team into Paris Olympics

Bianca Andreescu will continue her comeback at the Paris Games as part of a loaded Canadian tennis team looking for its first Olympic medal in 24 years.

The 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., was named to Canada’s Olympic team along with Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont.

Andreescu, 23, will make her Olympic debut after injuries forced her to pull out of the Tokyo Games.

She returned to action earlier this year after a layoff of nearly 10 months with a back injury and reached the final of the grass-court Libema Open.

“Playing at the Olympic Games has been a huge goal of mine these past few months as I have been working my way back from injury,” Andreescu said in a Tennis Canada news release. “It is always an honour to represent my country and I cannot wait to do that again alongside Canada’s incredible team of athletes on the world’s biggest stage in Paris.

“This is a dream come true and I can’t wait to soak up the Olympic atmosphere and give it everything.”

Canada will bring a wealth of international success to Paris. Auger-Aliassime led Canada to a Davis Cup title in 2022, while Fernandez and Dabrowski were part of the Canadian squad that won the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023.

WATCH | Andreescu drops final at Libema Open in June:

Fernandez, 21, is making her second Olympic appearance after advancing to the second round at the Tokyo Games. She is Canada’s highest-ranked women’s singles player at No. 30. She was a U.S. Open finalist in 2021 shortly after appearing at the Tokyo Olympics.

Fernandez will also team with Dabrowski in women’s doubles. Dabrowski is ranked fourth in the world in women’s doubles and teamed up with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe to win the 2023 U.S. Open title.

Dabrowski won all three of her matches at the BJK Cup finals, including teaming up with Fernandez to win a clinching doubles match against Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals.

Auger-Aliassime and Raonic will play in men’s singles and team up in doubles competition.

Auger-Aliassime, 17th in the ATP singles ranking, will make his second Olympic appearance after playing in men’s singles and mixed doubles at Tokyo 2020.

Raonic, the 33-year-old veteran of the team, is appearing in his second Olympics and first since London 2012, where he lost in a marathon second-round match against France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Canada’s only Olympic tennis medal came at the 2000 Sydney Games, when Daniel Nestor and Sebastian Lareau stunned Australian favourites Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge to win men’s doubles gold.

Tennis will take place July 27-Aug. 4 on the clay courts of Roland Garros, site of the French Open.

Judoka Elnahas eyes Olympic podium

Also Thursday, reigning Pan Am gold medallist Shady Elnahas and the Deguchi sisters, Christa and Kelly, were among the judoka announced for Paris.

Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, Francois Gauthier-Drapeau, Arthur Margelidon, and Ana Laura Portuondo Isasi are the others.

Elnahas will attempt to improve upon his fifth-place performance in Tokyo three years ago.

After his fifth Pan Am title last fall, he captured silver earlier this year at the world championships in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where he had to forfeit the final due to injury.

“I’m particularly amped for these Games because we were really in a bubble in Tokyo,” Elnahas, ranked third in the world in the men’s 100-kilogram division said in a statement released by Judo Canada. “In Paris, I really want to fully live and make the most of each moment.

“I’m also looking forward to performing to the best of my ability … and giving it my all to bring home a medal this time.”

The Deguchis will be competing at the Summer Games for the first time.

Christa Deguchi, the top-ranked woman in the 57 kg division, is Canada’s most decorated female judoka to date.

A two-time world champion, she collected silver this year and has won 11 Grand Slam events since 2018.

The 28-year-old, who lives and trains in Japan, is thrilled to compete in Paris after missing out on qualifying for Tokyo when eventual Olympic bronze medallist Jessica Klimkait claimed Canada’s lone spot in their category.

Kelly Deguchi also trains in Japan and will compete in the women’s 52 kg bracket.

She is a three-time medallist at the Pan American-Oceania Championships. Last year, she won European Open gold for her first international title.

In 2022, Christa won gold at the Commonwealth Games while Kelly picked up silver in Birmingham, England.

Canada has earned seven Olympic medals in judo since it joined the Olympic program in 1964. Women’s events were added for Barcelona in 1992.

The judo competition in Paris will be held July 27-Aug. 3 at the Champs-de-Mars Arena.