Canadians in third-round action at Roland-Garros Friday on TSN
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The Canadians at Roland-Garros continued their strong showings on Thursday Felix Auger-Aliassime, Denis Shapovalov, Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu have advanced to the third round.
Auger-Aliassime will take on Ben Shelton, Shapovalov will battle Hubert Hurkacz, while Fernandez will take on Ons Jabeur in the next round.
Bianca Andreescu will take on Italian Jasmine Paolini in the third round.
Fernandez reached the third round at Roland-Garros for the third time in five appearances after defeating Xiyu Wang in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday morning. The 21-year-old has yet to drop a set at the tournament as she moves into the third round, where she will face off with No. 8 Ons Jabeur.
The two have gone head-to-head three times in their careers, with Jabeur winning all three matchups. Most recently, the world No. 9 defeated Fernandez 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in the third round at the Madrid Open one month ago.
Jabeur, the former world No. 2, reached the quarter-final at Roland-Garros last season, losing to Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Shapovalov defeated the 25th seed Frances Tiafoe on Thursday 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the third round. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native smashed 21 aces in the match to Tiafoe’s one, winning 82 per cent of his first serve points.
The 25-year-old will take on world No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz in the next round, who beat Brandon Nakashima 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (5) to advance to the third round.
Shapovalov and Hurkacz have faced off five times in their careers, with Hurkacz winning all five of those matchups. They most recently faced off in the Round of 32 at the 2023 Australian Open, where Hurkacz won in five sets. The two have never battled on clay.
Auger-Aliassime, the tournament’s No. 21 seed, defeated qualifier Henri Squire 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round. The Montreal native had his serve working for the second-straight match, knocking 12 aces and winning 79 per cent of his first-serve points in the victory.
He will take on either No. 15 Ben Shelton on Friday, who defeated veteran Kei Nishikori in a walkover in the second round 7-6, 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime has never gone head-to-head against the 2023 US Open semifinalist.
Andreescu was the final Canadian to reach the third round on Thursday, defeating Anna Kalinskaya 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 to advance. The Mississauga native got off to a slow start and quickly dropped the first set but was able to bounce back and rally for the victory. The former US Open winner finished off her comeback win by breaking to go up 5-3 and serving out the victory.
Andreescu and Paolini will face off for the first time in their careers after No. 12 seed advanced to the third round with a win over Hailey Baptiste.