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.
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 earn the match in just over three hours.
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 adversary’s 42.
She is now 17-21 this season.
Venus Williams’ 100th career U.S. Open match produced her most lopsided loss at the Grand Slam tournament where she collected 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 an opportunity 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.
