 | Before we get started, just a heads-up that the Buzzer is off next week. As we head out, here's a guide to the Canadians to watch on a busy weekend of international sports. | | | What to watch this weekend | | | Here's what Canadian fans should keep an eye on:
Tennis: Mboko faces tough first-round matchup at U.S. Open
The 18-year-old Canadian phenom's stunning victory at the National Bank Open in Montreal rocketed her up to 24th in the world rankings, and she received the No. 22 seed for her U.S. Open debut. But Mboko drew a dangerous opponent in Czech veteran Barbora Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam champion who won Wimbledon last year and was ranked as high as second in the world in 2022. An early-season back injury caused her to drop from 10th at the end of 2024 to 61st at the moment.
Four other Canadian singles players are seeded for the final major of the year. Leylah Fernandez, No. 31 in the women's bracket, will face a to-be-determined qualifier or lucky loser in the first round. On the men's side, No. 25 Felix Auger-Aliassime will also meet a TBD qualifier/lucky loser, while No. 27 Denis Shapovalov opens against 94th-ranked Hungarian Marton Fucsovics and No. 31 Gabriel Diallo takes on 60th-ranked Bosnian Damir Dzumhur.
Rebecca Marino can advance to the women's main draw by winning her third-round qualifying match this afternoon against the Czech Republic's Dominika Salkova.
The singles tournaments in New York open Sunday. But none of the Canadians' matches had been scheduled as of our publish time, so some of them could be on Monday.
The doubles draws will be revealed next week, and Canada's Gaby Dabrowski and her teammate Erin Routliffe of New Zealand will be among the top seeds in the women's bracket after winning the Cincinnati Open last week for their sixth trophy together and first in a WTA 1000 event. They won the U.S. Open in 2023.
If you missed yesterday's newsletter, here's our look at Mboko and the other Canadians in the U.S. Open.
Golf: Henderson, 15-year-old Deng in contention at Canadian Women's Open
Following an even-par opening round, Canada's Brooke Henderson fired a 5-under 66 today at the Mississaugua Golf and Country Club outside Toronto to move into a tie for seventh at our publish time. Henderson's Canadian-record 13 LPGA Tour titles include a pair of majors and the 2018 Canadian Open. But it's been more than two years since her last victory and she's yet to crack the top 10 in a stroke-play event this season.
Fifteen-year-old Canadian amateur Aphrodite Deng was the talk of the tournament yesterday after tying for second place with a 5-under opening round. At our publish time, she'd grabbed sole possession of second by getting to 7 under for the tournament through nine holes.
First-round leader Akie Iwai of Japan had the clubhouse lead at 9 under. British sensation Lottie Woad, the pre-tournament betting favourite, was in danger of missing the cut after finishing the day at 2 over for the tournament. Here's a live leaderboard.
Through two rounds at the PGA's season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta, Canada's Nick Taylor is tied for 14th at 6 under and Corey Conners is alone in 23rd at 3 under. England's Tommy Fleetwood and American Russell Henley shared the lead at 13 under, while defending champ Scottie Scheffler fell to sixth place at 8 under.
A total of $40 million US in prize money is up for grabs at the Tour Championship, including $10 million for the winner. Here's the full leaderboard.
Rugby: Women's World Cup kicks off in England
Canada, ranked second in the world, behind the host country, opens group play on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET against No. 14 Fiji. The Canadians then face No. 9 Wales on Aug. 30 and No. 8 Scotland on Sept. 6. The top two teams in each of the four groups advance to the quarterfinals.
At the last women's World Cup, in 2022, Canada went a perfect 3-0 in its group and defeated the United States in the quarterfinals before falling to top-ranked England 26-19 in the semis. Their tournament ended with a brutal 36-0 drubbing by France in the bronze-medal game.
A Canadian player to watch is forward DaLeaka Menin, whose powerful ball carrying and brute force in the scrum put her among the best in the world at her position. Here's more on her.
The roster also includes some players from the Canadian women's rugby sevens team that captured a surprising Olympic silver medal in Paris last summer. Here's more on Canada's outlook for the World Cup.
Other stuff to watch:
* Olympic gold medallist Katie Vincent headlines the Canadian paddlers competing at the canoe and kayak sprint world championships in Milan, Italy. She won the women's 200m singles event last summer in Paris and took bronze in the 500m doubles with Sloan MacKenzie. Vincent also earned an Olympic doubles bronze in 2021, and she's won nine world titles in solo and team events at various distances.
* The women's volleyball world championship is underway in Thailand, where 12th-ranked Canada opens against No. 20 Bulgaria on Saturday. Canada rounds out group play against No. 32 Spain on Monday and No. 6 Turkey on Wednesday. The top two teams from each of the eight groups advance to the knockout stage. All of Canada's preliminary-round matches begin at 5 a.m. ET and you can watch them live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
* The Canadian men's basketball team (or at least a version of it) is competing for a regional championship at the FIBA AmeriCup in Nicaragua. In 2022, Toronto Raptors reserve Dalano Banton led Canada to a fourth-place finish. This time, the top NBA name on the roster is Kyshawn George, a Swiss-Canadian who averaged around nine points as a rookie this past season with the basement-dwelling Washington Wizards. Canada opens group play this evening against Venezuela, then faces Panama on Saturday and Puerto Rico on Monday. | | |  | 15-year-old Canadian amateur Aphrodite Deng is in contention at the Canadian Women's Open near Toronto. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) | | | Quickly… | | | Some other things to know:
1. Canada's Sarah Mitton is ready to defend her Diamond League title.
Having already clinched a spot in next week's Diamond League Final, the tour's reigning women's shot put champion placed second in today's regular-season ender in Brussels. World champion Chase Jackson of the United States won the competition to remain first in the standings, while Dutchwoman Jessica Schilder finished third to stay one spot ahead of Mitton.
Mitton could be the only Canadian at the Final, which takes place Wednesday and Thursday in Zurich (the shot put is on Day 1). Marco Arop finished eighth in the men's 800m standings, and the top eight technically qualify. But the organizers are allowed to invite a wild card instead, so Arop will have to wait until Monday to find out if he gets bumped.
Aaron Brown ranked eighth in the men's 200m heading into today's finale, but Zimbabwe's Makanakaishe Charamba leapfrogged the idle Canadian with his fifth-place finish.
In the marquee race of the day, Olympic women's 100m bronze medallist Melissa Jefferson-Wooden of the United States continued her breakout season by dominating the women's 100m in 10.76 seconds — no far off her world-leading 10.65. World champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the U.S. finished a distant second in 11.08 while three-time Olympic gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica was fourth.
2. Canada's women's 3x3 basketball team captured its second straight title.
After winning the FIBA Women’s Series tour stop in Edmonton a couple weeks ago, Canada defeated Austria in yesterday's final in Bordeaux, France. Canada's Saicha Grant-Allen was named the tournament MVP after scoring 28 points in five games. Cassandra Brown and Paige Crozon scored 27 each, while Katherine Plouffe had a tournament-high 14 key assists.
Michelle Plouffe, Katherine's twin sister, retired recently after helping Canada to a fourth-place finish at the Paris Olympics. Here's more on her legacy from CBC Sports contributor Myles Dichter.
3. Former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber makes his Blue Jays debut tonight.
The 30-year-old right-hander won the American League Cy Young in Covid-shortened 2020 with Cleveland after leading the majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts, but he hasn't pitched since April 2024 due to an elbow injury. The Jays acquired Bieber from the Guardians at the July 31 trade deadline, and after completing his rehab from Tommy John surgery he's set to start tonight in Miami against the Marlins.
On a less happy note, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be out of the lineup for the third straight game due to a hamstring injury.
With five weeks left in the season, Toronto (74-54) leads the AL East by 4½ games over the Yankees and five over Boston. If you're looking to jump on the bandwagon, here's a quick Jays catchup from CBC News' Geoff Nixon. | | | And very quickly… | | | A few more things before we go:
* A big CFL West Division showdown is on tap for Saturday night when the league-leading Saskatchewan Roughriders (8-1) visit the second-place Calgary Stampeders (6-3). Calgary handed the Riders their only loss of the season, beating them 24-10 in Regina in Week 6.
* The Canadian Elite Basketball League championship will be decided this weekend in Winnipeg, where the four remaining teams are gathered. Tonight, the defending-champion Niagara River Lions face the Scarborough Shooting Stars in the East final while the Calgary Surge meet the host Winnipeg Sea Bears in the West final. The winners play for the title on Sunday night.
* Canada's short track speed skaters begin their road to the 2026 Winter Olympics this weekend at the national championships in Montreal. The results will help determine who represents Canada on this season's World Tour. You can watch live races on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem.
* The Canada Games continue through Sunday in the St. John's area, where some 4,200 young athletes from around the country are representing their provinces and territories across 19 different sports. Here's the story of how two members of Nova Scotia's men's softball team survived health scares to make it to the Games. Watch live events all weekend on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. | | | That's it for today. Talk to you later. | | | | Not subscribed? Sign up here to get the Buzzer delivered to your inbox. Got an idea, question, comment or other feedback on the newsletter? Drop us a line at thebuzzer@cbc.ca. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
forwarded to you. | | | |
