PARIS – Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez advanced to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday, while Bianca Andreescu was eliminated in straight sets.
Auger-Aliassime did a quick job of qualifying Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli, winning 6-0, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round of the Paris Major for the first time in his career.
The 21-year-old Montreal product, the tournament’s ninth seed, threw eight aces and turned five of the 10 breakpoints into a dominant display on Roland Garros clay.
Auger-Aliassime looked much more confident against Carabelli than in his awkward 2-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas on Sunday.
“It was a better start than my first round, for sure,” he said. “I think that gave me confidence that if I went down that path and won my service games and kept being aggressive and trying to dominate, it would give me a good chance of winning in sets in a row.”
Auger-Aliassime’s next match will be on Thursday against Serbian Filip Krajinovic, who defeated Croatia’s Borna Gojo 7-6, 6-2, 5-7 and 6-1.
Montreal’s Leylah Fernandez, the 17th seed in the women’s team, needed just 71 minutes to eliminate Czech Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2.
“I think I just played a very good game, especially in important points of the first set,” said Fernandez. “In the second set, I was happy to have been able to maintain that offense and continue with my shots, and I’m glad the balls came in when it mattered.”
Later that day, Andreescu dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to No. 14 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ontario, made a late charge winning three straight games at the end of the second set before Bencic had service for the win.
Bencic, who won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games last summer, will face Fernandez in a third-round match on Friday.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 25, 2022.