Auger-Aliassime advances to French Open, Shapovalov, Andreescu eliminated

PARIS — Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime won his rain-interrupted match on Saturday to earn a fourth-round meeting with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open.

The Montreal tournament’s 21st seed was a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 men’s singles winner over then-No. 15 Ben Shelton from the United States.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was eliminated 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-1 by eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland when the third-round match was resumed on Saturday.

And Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., fell in her third-round women’s singles match 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 to the No. 1 seed. 12, Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

Auger-Aliassime was 5-4 on Friday before rain suspended the match.

He took the first five games when play resumed on Saturday.

“When the second set started I felt like my intentions were clear and my execution was right and I was able to do what I wanted to do and at the same time get free points from him and give it back service pretty well,” said Auger-Aliassime.

The 23-year-old has never reached the quarter-finals of the French Open.

To do so this year, he will have to get past two-time major winner and third seed Alcaraz of Spain in their first meeting on clay.

“It’s as big a challenge as it gets,” said the Canadian. “I feel like I’m getting more and more confident in my game and what I’m doing. I have every reason to believe I can win, but we know the challenges. It’s a tough one.”

Shelton’s sore shoulder sapped his serve speed Saturday.

“I feel like a pitcher who threw too many pitches, way over his number,” he said.

“Felix played too well today. Even if I hadn’t had whatever happened to me, it would have been difficult to pass, the way he played,”

The match moved from Court 14 to Court Suzanne Lenglen on Friday, one of two arenas at Roland Garros with a retractable roof, allowing them to play even as showers affected the clay court for the fifth straight day.

Ninth seed Leylah Fernandez of Montreal and her New Zealand teammate Erin Routliffe were trailing China’s Guo Hanyu and Jiang Xinyu 2-1 in the first set of their first-round women’s doubles match when it was suspended Saturday.

Shapovalov trailed Hurkacz 6-3, 7-6 (0), 2-1 when their match stopped on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on June 1, 2024.

The Canadian Press