Canadian singles hopes end at Wimbledon with Mboko, Auger-Aliassime losses

WIMBLEDON — Canada’s singles hopes at Wimbledon ended Thursday as lucky loser Victoria Mboko and 25th-seeded Félix Auger-Aliassime were both eliminated in second-round matches.

The 18-year-old Mboko, who earned her place in the main draw after a late withdrawal, fell 7-6 (6), 6-3 to Hailey Baptiste of the United States. The Toronto native led 5-2 in the first-set tiebreak, but couldn’t convert, dropping five of the next six points to lose the set.

Auger-Aliassime dropped a 3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-3, 6-4 decision to unseeded German Jan-Lennard Struff in a match suspended Wednesday night due to darkness. The Montreal product had 16 aces, but converted just three of 13 break-point chances.

Auger-Aliassime was trying to reach the third round at the All England Club for the first time since his 2021 quarterfinal run.

Also Thursday, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and New Zealand’s Lulu Sun lost their women’s doubles opener 6-2, 6-1 to Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and American Asia Muhammad.

Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo is also out of the competition after he and Belgium’s Zizou Bergs fell 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-3 to the French duo of Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul in men’s doubles.

Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski is still alive in women’s doubles with partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at Wimbledon, will face Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez and Russia’s Polina Kudermetova in the second round on Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2025.