Felix Auger-Aliassime reaches 4th round of French Open
Denis Shapovalov, Bianca Andreescu both eliminated
Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal completed a rain-delayed match on Saturday to advance to the fourth round of the French Open in Paris.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime won his rain-interrupted match Saturday to earn a fourth-round date with Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open.
The tournament’s 21st-seed from Montreal was a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 winner over No. 15 Ben Shelton of the United States.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was ousted 6-3, 7-6 (0), 4-6, 6-1 by eighth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland when their third-round match resumed Saturday.
And Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., fell in her third-round women’s singles match 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 to No. 12 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy.
Auger-Aliassime was up 5-4 on Friday before rain suspended the match.
He took the initial five games when play resumed Saturday.
Auger-Aliassime, 23, has never reached the French Open quarterfinals.
To do so this year, he’ll have to get past two-time major winner and third seed Alcaraz of Spain.
“It’s as big of a challenge as it gets,” the Canadian said. “I feel like I have more and more belief in my game and what I do. I have all the reasons to believe I can win, but we know the challenges. It’s a tough one.”
In a match that was suspended Friday due to rain, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime came into Saturday with a dominant performance over American Ben Shelton 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the fourth round at Roland-Garros. 2:41
Shelton’s shoulder pain drained his serve speed Saturday.
“I just feel like a pitcher who’s thrown too many pitches, way over his pitch count,” he said.
“Felix just played way too well today. Even if I didn’t have whatever I had going on, it would have been a tough one to get through, with the way he was playing,”
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The match shifted from Court 14 on Friday to Court Suzanne Lenglen, one of two arenas at Roland Garros with a retractable roof, allowing them to play even as showers plagued the clay-court tournament for the fifth day in a row.
Shapovalov trailed Hurkacz 6-3, 7-6 (0), 2-1 when their match halted Friday.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., loses her 3rd round match up against Italian Jasmine Paolini 6-1,3-6,6-0 at the French Open and is eliminated from further play at Roland-Garros. 2:34
Rybakina, Sabalenka advance
Grand Slam winners Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka reached the fourth round of the French Open in straight sets on Saturday.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina, seeded fourth, beat Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 6-2. Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka followed her on Court Philippe Chatrier and won 7-5, 6-1 against Paula Badosa.
“It’s tough to play your best friend,” Sabalenka said.
It certainly was for a while.
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After trailing 5-3 in the first set, Sabalenka won eight straight games to take complete control.
“I was just feeling myself and trusting my shots,” Sabalenka said.
The former No. 1-ranked Sabalenka’s best performance at Roland Garros is reaching the semifinals while Rybakina — the only player from Kazakhstan to win a major title — has one quarterfinal appearance here.
Rybakina dropped her serve in the seventh game of the first set but broke straight back to tie her match at 4-4.
Russian-born Varvara Gracheva of France advanced to the fourth round of a major for the first time after downing Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3.
Later Saturday, defending champion Novak Djokovic faced No. 30 seed Lorenzo Musetti in a rematch from 2021, when Musetti won the first two sets before retiring in the fifth.
No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev, who won the Italian Open last month, plays 26th-seeded Tallon Griekspoor.
For the fifth consecutive day, rain interrupted play.
At around 1 p.m. local time, rain fell again, with a chilly wind and an unappealing temperature of 14 C.
