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SPORTSCENTRE Reporter

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Martin Laurendeau reached the fourth round of the US Open back in 1988. Milos Raonic has made the fourth round in New York on four occasions (2012, '13, '14 and '18). Denis Shapovalov reached the round of 16 in the Big Apple in 2017.

But no Canadian man has ever cracked the quarterfinals at the US Open in singles.

Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Vasek Pospisil all have a chance to end the drought during the Labour Day long weekend. This is the first time three Canadian men have reached this stage at the same singles Grand Slam.

Shapovalov, the No. 12 seed, gets the first chance to make Canadian tennis history when he takes on David Goffin, the No. 7 seed, on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET. You can watch the match on TSN1. ​

A lot has changed for Shapovalov since he qualified and made a magical run at Flushing Meadows three years ago. He's now being mentored by former ATP pro Mikhail Youzhny, who's not in New York, but has made a big impact on the 21-year-old.

"He's taught me so much," Shapovalov said, "how I've got a lot of power and it's the main weapon, but there's other ways I can win. I got other strengths as well and he's taught me not to try and overpower too much, but play a lot smarter."

Shapovalov's maturation was on display during his third-round win on Friday. He trailed Taylor Fritz, the No. 19 seed, two sets to one and was down a break in the fourth set, but Shapovalov sensed the 22-year-old American was getting a bit tight and tried to make him play as many balls as possible. Shapovalov broke Fritz when he served for the match, edged him in the ensuing tiebreak and then took over in the fifth set.

Shapovalov, who is also coached by mom Tessa Shapovalova, had lost five setters to Kevin Anderson and Gael Monfils the previous two years at the US Open and learned from those experiences.

"I feel like the other player always kind of raised their level more than me so I tried to kind of do the same and raise my intensity," he explained.

Shapovalov is also benefiting from working with a sports psychologist, who has encouraged him to meditate during changeovers.

"The meditation is helping a lot," Shapovalov said. "I'm also letting go a bit if I feel some frustration, not holding it back, just letting it go so I can play freely and I'm not playing tight. Obviously, I'm still learning. It's still a work in progress. I just started four or five months ago with the psychologist, but I definitely feel like it’s been helping me quite a lot."

Shapovalov lost his only previous match against Goffin in straight sets last year in Tokyo, but both sets went to a tiebreak.

β€œHe's definitely a super solid player," Shapovalov said. "It's going to be very tricky. We had a really tight match before so it's going to be a long match. I'll focus on getting the body as ready as possible for that match, because it's going to be super-long rallies and I'm going to have stay with him as much as possible."

Among the three Canadians remaining, Auger-Aliassime, the No. 15 seed, will be facing the toughest opponent in the fourth round as he takes on No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem. But of the trio of Canadians, Auger-Aliassime appears to be playing the best ball right now. He didn't face a break point in dominating Andy Murray in his Arthur Ashe Stadium debut on Thursday night. Auger-Aliassime then dismantled France's Corentin Moutet 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 in a match that lasted just one hour and 57 minutes on Saturday.

"I'm here to impose myself," he said in his post-match, on-court interview. "Outside the court I'm a pretty kind person, but once I step on court, it's the best man that wins. Only one survives. You've got to step it up with that killer instinct."

Auger-Aliassime is into the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time and like Shapovalov has benefited from experience. At last year's Wimbledon, he stumbled in the third round despite being favoured against Ugo Humbert.

​"Way more prepared and just more settled," the Montreal native said after his second-round win in New York. "I'm a different player, different person. I'm more calm and I know how I want to play. I know where I'm going. Last year at Wimbledon there were a lot of expectations because of my results the weeks prior and the first two matches I was able to win, but I just felt like my game wasn't really coming together and was always on the edge and it wasn't enough. Now, I feel confident. The work is not done, but I feel confident that I can keep on playing well."

And the 20-year-old, the youngest player remaining in the draw, is eager to measure himself against Thiem, who lost in the Australian Open final earlier this year.

"Dominic has been getting stronger and stronger year after year," Auger-Aliassime noted. "You feel like step by step he's been reaching later stages of these tournaments, reall​y becoming like a power in the tennis world."

Auger-Aliassime and Thiem will play their fourth-round match on Monday with the time and broadcast details still to be announced.

"No real weaknesses," Thiem said of Auger-Aliassime. "The only thing he's missing is the experience. It's not my first second week at a Slam, but it's his. That's probably my biggest advantage in this match. I'm looking forward to it. I'm always looking forward to play against these young superstars."

The most unlikely Canadian run has come from Pospisil, who had not played a competitive match since February. He entered the US Open ranked No. 94, but armed with the knowledge that he had been playing some of the best tennis of his life before the pandemic pause. Pospisil posted wins over Shapovalov, Goffin, Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz among others earlier this year.

Pospisil, who reached a career high of No. 25 in 2014, says there are many reasons for his renaissance at age 30, but the biggest thing is health. Surgery in January 2019 to repair a herniated disc has given his tennis career new life.

​"I feel like I'm moving as good as I have moved in the last four or five years," he said. "I don't have any back issues, which is huge. Obviously it goes without saying how important it is to be healthy on the court. I haven't felt this way physically since, you know, I had my big back issues, I guess, in 2015 and onwards."

Pospisil felt really rusty until a couple days before the US Open. Then he got off to a great start taking out veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets in the first round and began to truly believe he could do some damage. Pospisil proceeded to take down two of the most in-form players in the draw in Raonic, who made the final of the Western & Southern Open, and No. 8 seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who forced Novak Djokovic to a third set tiebreak in the semifinals of the tune-up tournament.

Pospisil's opponent on Monday is 21-year-old Australian Alex de Minaur, the No. 21 seed.

"Even though Vasek isn't a seed, he's definitely playing like a top seed," said de Minaur, who is looking to advance to the quarterfinals at a major for the first time. "He's taken out both Milos and Bautista. He definitely deserves to be there. He's a very, very dangerous player."​

Pospisil dropped both previous meetings against de Minaur back in 2018.

"He can run all day," the B.C. native observed. "Super quick and the longer the point the better for him. He's one of the fittest guys on tour so similar game plan to what I had against Roberto. I got to dictate play ... Just go out there swinging."

Pospisil is looking to reach the quarterfinals at a Grand Slam for the second time in his career and for the first time since Wimbledon in 2015.

Among the final 16 hopefuls in the men's draw, Canada leads the way with three. Spain, Russia and Australia have two each and then seven countries have one representative. Whatever happens in the next couple days, this has been a remarkable week of tennis for Canada and the future has never looked brighter.

"It's amazing to see how much depth we have," said Canadian Davis Cup captain Frank Dancevic, who coaches Pospisil. "Four guys right now who are in the top 100 and just playing really, really good tennis all around."