Félix Auger-Aliassime and Victoria Mboko are the last Canadians standing in the singles draws at Roland-Garros and will play their third-round matches on Saturday in Paris.
Auger-Aliassime will battle American Brandon Nakashima, while Mboko will take on 2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys.
Auger-Aliassime finds himself in an excellent position to compete for his first Grand Slam title following world No. 1 Jannik Sinner’s shocking elimination on Thursday at the hands of Juan Manuel Cerundolo.
To take advantage, the 25-year-old will first need to get past the 31st-ranked Nakashima. The two have only gone head-to-head once at the tour level, with Auger-Aliassime winning in straight sets in the Florence quarter-final in 2022, a tournament the Canadian would go on to win.
Auger-Aliassime earned a 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 win over Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga on Thursday, following a nearly five-hour marathon 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) win over Daniel Altmaier in the opener.
Nakashima reached the third round with wins over Roberto Bautista Agut and Luca Van Assche.
The Canadian is the highest seed remaining in the top half of the draw following Sinner’s early exit. If he can advance past Nakashima, his fourth-round opponent will be either No. 36-ranked Alejandro Tabilo or hometown favourite Moise Kouame. The Montreal native’s next highest-seeded potential opponent would come in the quarter-final, with Francisco Cobolli (10) and Learner Tien (18) representing the only other top-10 seeds remaining in the top half of the draw.
No. 19 Frances Tiafoe is the only seeded player that Auger-Aliassime could potentially face in the semifinal after Sinner, Ben Shelton (5), and Luciano Darderi (14) were all upset in the second round. Third-seeded Novak Djokovic and No. 2 Alexander Zverev are in the bottom half of the draw.
Mboko Battles Keys
Mboko and Keys will clash for the second time this season after the Canadian defeated the world No. 19 in the Adelaide quarter-final this past January. It was their only career meeting.
It is the second-straight year the Burlington, Ont., native has reached the third round at Roland-Garros after winning a pair of matches in her Grand Slam debut last year. Keys is no stranger to the clay in Paris, having reached the semifinal in 2018.
Mboko admittedly did not perform at her best in her second-round win over Katerina Siniakova, but hopes to use the 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 comeback win to build momentum.
“I think it happens to the best of us. I don’t think every day I’m going to have my best performance, but I mean, I’m just happy to kind of have pulled it through,” she said. “Yeah, I feel like what’s important is that you have the opportunity to kind of improve yourself and be better the next round.”
The 19-year-old Mboko would match her best Grand Slam performance with a victory after she reached the fourth round at the Australian Open this season.
With a win, the Canadian would take on either Diana Shnaider or Oleksandra Oliynykova with a potential quarter-final matchup with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka looming.
