Felix Auger-Aliassime is advancing through Roland Garros — and suddenly, the road to the final seems much more achievable.
The Montreal ace triumphed over Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga with a score of 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 in the French Open’s second round on Thursday, just hours after the top seed Jannik Sinner suffered a shocking upset.
Originally, Auger-Aliassime was poised to face Sinner, who entered the day riding a remarkable 30-match winning streak, in the semifinals.
Now, the No. 4 Canadian has ascended to become the highest-ranked player left in his section of the draw.
After a wobbly start in the first set, Auger-Aliassime recovered fiercely, dominating Burruchaga in the second. He then rallied after a break in the third, claiming victory with power in the fourth set to secure his place in the third round.
During the match, the Canadian unleashed eight aces and successfully converted seven of ten break-point chances.
The 25-year-old will next encounter the victor of the showdown between American Brandon Nakashima and France’s Luca Van Assche. He stands as one of two Canadians still in contention in the French Open singles, with Victoria Mboko set to take on Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova in her own second-round clash later on Thursday.
Earlier that day, Sinner was on the verge of victory in the third set against Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundulo when the intense Paris heat seemed to drain his energy. He ultimately fell in five sets, marking an unexpected end to his French Open journey.
