Canadian tennis players Bianca Andreescu and Denis Shapovalov opened their grass-court seasons with losses in first-round action at the Libema Open on Monday.
Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., fell 6-1, 6-3 to third seed Elise Mertens of Belgium in the women’s draw at the 250-level event on the ATP and WTA tours.
Mertens didn’t face a break point and converted four of her seven break points to pick up her first win in three tries against Andreescu, who was playing in the main draw as a wild card.
Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-5 to Croatian veteran Marin Cilic.
Cilic improved to 4-3 against Shapovalov in a match where both players struggled to hold serve. Shapovalov was broken by Cilic seven times on 10 chances, while the Croatian conceded five breaks on seven chances.
The grass-court season, the shortest on the tennis calendar at roughly a month, is capped by Wimbledon. The third Grand Slam of the season begins June 29 in London.