The 2025 Canadian Open has become a testing ground for more than just tennis skills. Players are battling not only their opponents but also problematic playing conditions that have sparked widespread complaints from stars like Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz.
The tournament’s problems have been evident at both venues hosting the Canadian Open: men’s matches at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto and women’s matches at IGA Stadium in Montreal.
What Did Ellen Perez Say About Canadian Open Ball Conditions?
In response to these widespread issues and Taylor Fritz’s criticisms, Ellen Perez took to social media to address what she believes is the root cause of the problems. The Australian felt that the high number of double faults among players was directly related to the quality of the balls, which she bluntly referred to as “trash.”
“It’s the balls. They’re trash this year. Everyone is complaining about how different it’s playing. Having to drop tension big time!” Perez posted on X.
It’s the balls. They’re trash this year. Everyone is complaining about how different it’s playing. Having to drop tension big time!
— Ellen Perez (@EllenPerez95) August 3, 2025
Coco Gauff, the top seed at the 2025 Canadian Open, began her campaign in the second round and secured victories against Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova before being eliminated in the fourth round by wild card Victoria Mboko (1-6, 4-6).
In her match against Collins, Gauff struggled significantly, committing a total of 23 double faults. This performance marked the fifth-highest number of double faults in WTA history, highlighting the severity of the playing conditions.
Meanwhile, Fritz, seeded second at the ATP Masters 1000 hard court tournament in Toronto, also began his run in the second round after a first-round bye. He triumphed over Roberto Carballés Baena and 27th seed Gabriel Diallo.
During a press conference, Fritz expressed his frustrations about the tournament conditions. The World No. 4 stated that these challenging conditions have made it “really hard” to play “good tennis,” leading to an increase in unforced errors and double faults among players throughout the tournament.
“I’ve been having an incredibly hard time just putting the ball in the court. Typically, when I’m missing shots, I know exactly why I’m missing… The conditions have been really hard to just play good tennis. There’s a lot of ugly tennis. There’s a lot of people double-faulting, a lot of mistakes,” Fritz said.
Ellen Perez participated only in the doubles event, partnering with Lyudmyla Kichenok. The duo was seeded seventh and won their first-round match against Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Liudmila Samsonova, 7-5, 6-1.
However, the Australian-Ukrainian pair were eliminated in the second round after losing to Gauff and McCartney Kessler, 3-6, 6-3, [1-10].
What’s Next for Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz at Canadian Open 2025?
Despite her singles campaign concluding with a fourth-round defeat to Mboko at the 2025 Canadian Open, Gauff remains in contention for the title in the doubles event. Her doubles campaign offers a chance for redemption after the singles disappointment.
Gauff’s best result in doubles at the Canadian WTA 1000 tournament came in 2022, when she teamed up with Jessica Pegula to secure the title. The pair defeated Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Perez in the final, giving Gauff valuable experience at this venue.
This year, Gauff has partnered with fellow American McCartney Kessler for the doubles competition in Montreal. The duo began their campaign with a victory against Fanny Stollár and Wu Fang-hsien, winning 7-6(6), 6-4. In the second round, they triumphed over the seventh-seeded Lyudmyla Kichenok and Perez to set up a QF clash against Barbora Krejčíková and Jeļena Ostapenko.
The winner of this match will advance to the semifinals to compete against the duo of Olga Danilović and Hsieh Su-wei.
On the men’s side of the draw at the 2025 Canadian Open, Fritz continues his singles campaign despite the challenging conditions. Following his win over Diallo in the third round, Fritz is set to face 19th seed Jiří Lehečka in the fourth round.
Fritz and Lehečka have faced each other thrice on the ATP Tour, with the American winning all three matches. Their most recent encounter took place in the first round of the 2023 Cincinnati Open, where Fritz won 7-6(14), 6-2.
The winner will face either sixth seed Andrey Rublev or 20th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the quarterfinals.
