Some 24 hours after Denis Shapovalov reached his first Australian Open men’s singles quarter-final, his friend and countryman Felix Auger-Aliassime joined him in the final eight.
Auger-Aliassime overcame a fast and furious start by 2018 finalist Marin Cilic and held on tight until he could turn things around, in a 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2, 7-6 (4) triumph on a steamy Monday in Melbourne that challenged even the fittest tennis players in the world.
Fellow Canadian Milos Raonic has reached the quarter-finals or better at the Australian Open five times.
But this is the first time two Canadians have done it in the same year. And it’s the second time in the last three Grand Slam tournaments that they have done it.
It’s also the third consecutive Grand Slam tournament in which Auger-Aliassime has reached at least the quarter-final stage.
Now it gets even tougher, as they take on the two biggest favorites to take the title among the eight who will remain after Monday’s play.
On Wednesday, Auger-Aliassime will play No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev, who survived the throwback serve-volley game of American Maxime Cressy — as well as the heat and some physical woes — to advance on Monday 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5.
The second-ranked Medvedev is trying to become the first man in the Open era to collect his second major singles title in the next Grand Slam event. He’s now potentially three wins from achieving that.
Medvedev was a runner-up in Australia last year but avenged that with a victory over Novak Djokovic in the U.S. Open final.
Djokovic isn’t defending his Australian Open title after being deported on the eve of the year’s first major for failing to meet the country’s strict COVID-19 vaccination criteria.
