MELBOURNE, Australia | At 24, Ontario’s Katherine Sebov will experience a Grand Slam main draw for the first time this week. And she’s going to make it big, making her debut at Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne’s biggest stadium.
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Sebov, World-191. and qualifier, deserved that honor after being unlucky enough to be dealt fourth-favourite opponent Caroline Garcia of France in the first round.
In a way, a blessing in disguise for this Canadian, who is more used to playing on the ITF circuit in the antechamber of WTA glory.
The meeting will take place in Melbourne on Tuesday at around 13:00 on the second day of competition in Australia. That means it will be played in Quebec around 9pm on Monday.
Five Canadians open the ball
Quebec’s Leylah Fernandez, currently ranked 39th, will also be in action on the second day of competition at 7pm on Monday.
Leylah will play on court number 3 against France’s Alizé Cornet, a veteran athlete who can be impressive but who beat the tiny left-hander in straight sets two years ago at Indian Wells.
The other five Canadians taking part in the grand draw in Melbourne will take to the stage on day one.
- Bianca Andreescu (42nd) meets Czech Marie Bouzkova (25th seed) on Sunday at 7 p.m.* in third place;
- Denis Shapovalov (20th seedling) meets Serbian Dusan Lajovic (81st) on Sunday around 9 p.m. in the 1573 Arena;
- Rebecca Marino (66th) will cross swords with China’s Lin Zhu (85th) in 14th place around midnight on Monday;
- And Félix Auger-Aliassime (6th favourite) meets his compatriot Vasek Pospisil (94th) on Monday around 2am on the field at John Cain Arena, the third largest field in Melbourne.
* All times shown are for Quebec.