Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Felix Auger-Aliassime have advanced to the fourth round of the French Open.
Fernandez, a 19-year-old from Montreal, beat Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland by 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 on the Roland Garros main track on Friday.
This is the first time Fernandez, the runner-up at the 2021 U.S. Open, has advanced to the third round in Paris.
17th seed Fernández broke Bencic in match 11 of the decisive set and served the match. He had saved two seven-pointers in the first game.
TARGET | Fernández moves on to the 4th round of the French Open:
Fernández reaches the round of 16 of Roland Garros for the first time in his career
No. 17 seed Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que. Beat Switzerland’s No. 14 Belinda Bencic 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 to advance to the round of 16 of the Laval Open. France.
Fernandez then faces 20-year-old American Amanda Anisimova, who reached the Roland Garros semifinals in 2019.
The best result of a Canadian woman in the individual draw of the French Open came in 2014, when Eugenie Bouchard reached the semifinals.
In the men’s singles, 21-year-old Auger-Aliassime defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-5. The ninth seed, originally from Montreal, will then face 13-time French Open champion and No. 5 seed Rafael Nadal from Spain.
TARGET | Auger-Aliassime reaches the round of 16 at Roland Garros:
Auger-Aliassime advances to the round of 16 at Roland Garros
No. 9 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal defeated Serbian Filip Krajinovic 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2), 7-5 to advance to the round of 16 of the Open of France for the first time in his career.
Nadal kept alive his quest for a 14th Roland Garros crown with a 6-3, 6-2 and 6-4 victory over Botic van de Zandschulp at the Suzanne-Lenglen track.
Anisimova advanced to the fourth round on Friday when Karolina Muchova stopped playing after injuring her right ankle.
Series leader 27th Anisimova, an American who reached the semifinals of Roland Garros at the age of 17 in 2019, led 6-7 (7), 6-2, 3-0 when Muchova walked the net to give way the match.
Muchova twisted his right foot while he knew 2-all in the second set. She went to the sidelines during that game to be checked by a doctor and a coach, who recorded her ankle.
When the game resumed after the medical timeout, Muchova lost seven games in a row before retiring from the game.
Anisimova eliminated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the first round.
Djokovic records another seven-straight victory
Defending champion Novak Djokovic secured another victory in seven and will face Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarter-finals at the French Open.
Top-ranked Djokovic beat Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 at Court Philippe Chatrier in 1 hour and 44 minutes, the fastest of his three victories.
Schwartzman’s 0-6 record against Djokovic includes a five-set in the third round of the 2017 French Open. The Argentine is the 15th seed.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion has not lost in the third round at Roland Garros since 2009.
Tonight on the center court, sixth seed Carlos Alcaraz plays Sebastian Korda in what could be a tricky match for the 19-year-old Spaniard.
Alcaraz’s only defeat in 19 games on clay this season was against Korda. The 21-year-old defeated Alcaraz last month in Monte Carlo.
He drank fine after throwing a racket at the crowd
A French Open player has been fined $ 10,000 for the tournament after throwing her racket and bouncing on the ground and in the stands during a match.
Irina-Camelia Begu, a 63-year-old Romanian who ranks 63rd, was cited for unsportsmanlike conduct during the third set of her victory over 30th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round on track 13.
The match was on Thursday. The fine was announced on Friday.
After losing a point, Begu walked to the sideline and threw his racquet, which flew behind the seat of referee Anis Ressaissi, landing among the spectators sitting next to the court. There were moans from the fans and a child was heard crying.
Tournament referee Remy Azemar said the team “brushed off a young spectator” who “turned out to be fine”.