The summer is here, and with it comes one of my favourite sporting months of the year.
A lot of people call me crazy for loving July, but I cannot help it.
The Tour de France and Wimbledon, are two of my favourites.
Sure tennis and cycling are “boring” to most, but there is plenty of tradition to keep me interested, besides the fact I actually love watching both.
While the Tour de France will feature little to no Canadian talent, Wimbledon is full of it.
On the women’s side we have arguably the most famous of Canada’s tennis stars; Eugenie Bouchard.
While not exactly lighting it up on the world tour where she currently sits ranked 193, Bouchard does come into the championships on a bit of a hot streak, having won five of her last six matches, including three in a row, albeit with all three coming in Wimbledon qualifying.
Bouchard does come into Wimbledon having only played three main level matches, and seven overall since April 3.
Not exactly a good number to have heading into the most prestigious tournament on the calendar.
Injuries have also played a role in Bouchard’s plummet down the rankings, but a first round match up against Great Britain’s Gabriella Taylor could help get Bouchard back on the right track.
While the women tote just a single Canadian in the singles draw, the men feature four, led by Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov.
Unfortunately for the Canadians, the list of homegrown talent to cheer for was reduced to three on day one of the championships, with Peter Polansky losing to Dennis Novak.
While Polansky is out, the three other Canadians are all in search of a long Wimbledon run.
The most likely of the trio remaining to go on a run would be Raonic.
The hard serving Canadian has seen injuries derail a solid climb up the world rankings, which culminated in a high of world number three in November 2016.
Today Raonic sits ranked number 31, but due to Wimbledon being played on grass, a season that lasts just one month, Raonic’s ranking was increased to number 13, representing what Wimbledon hopes is a nod to the caliber of talent he possesses, particularly on grass.
The 27-year-old Canadian started his Wimbledon tournament off on the right foot as he cruised past Brit Liam Broady to advance to round 2, where he will meet John Millman.
Hoping to join Raonic in round two is Canada’s other seeded player Denis Shapovalov.
Shapovalov has enjoyed a meteoric rise over the past year, going from world number 193 last June to 25 today.
Shapovalov was also affected by the Wimbledon ranking system however, as the All England Club handed him a ranking of 26.
The 19-year-old is the highest ranked teenager in the world.
While Shapovalov is a fast rising star in the sport, the All England Club were not very kind to the youngster as they drew him against world number 46, Jeremy Chardy in round one.
Shapovalov should come through that match, but Chardy is a tricky player, who has advanced past the second round three times in his Wimbledon career.
The final Canadian in the field is Vasek Pospisil.
Another of Canada’s talents who have had their careers derailed by injury.
When Pospisil gets rolling he can be tough to beat, as evidenced by his run to the quarterfinals in 2015, but injuries have stopped that progress with the 28-year-old falling to number 90 in the world.
Pospisil does not exactly come into Wimbledon on a hot streak either, as the Vernon, B.C. native has lost four straight matches, with his last win coming in May.
The All England Club drew Pospisil up against Mikhail Kukushkin in round one.
That should be a tough match for the Canadian, and should be get through that his matches will be even tougher with world number two Rafael Nadal potentially lurking in round two.
While injuries have not been kind to Canadians over the past little while, with four left in the main draw there’s a chance we could see some great Canadian tennis over the next fortnite.
