Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, and Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario are both in the third round of the 2023 Australian Open. On Wednesday (Australia time) in the second round, Auger-Aliassime defeated Alex Molcan of Slovakia in five sets, 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Then later in the day, Shapovalov beat Japan’s Taro Daniel, 6-3, 7-6, 7-5.
Auger-Aliassime’s serve was the difference in round two. He had 23 aces compared to Molcan’s four. Shapovalov’s serve was also a key component of his match. He had nine aces compared to only two for Daniel.
In the third round, Auger-Aliassime will face the 28th seed Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, and Shapovalov will face the 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland. Auger-Aliassime, Shapovalov and Hurkacz are all grand slam semifinalists. Auger-Aliassime made the final four of the 2021 United States Open, while Shapovalov and Hurkacz were in the men’s semifinals of Wimbledon in 2021.
This is the first career matchup between Auger-Aliassime and Cerundolo. Hurkacz and Shapovalov have had four career meetings head-to-head. Shapovalov’s lone win came in the third round of Dubai in 2021, where Shapovalov was victorious, 6-4, 6-3. In that tournament in the Middle East from two years ago, Shapovalov was the third seed and thus received a first round bye, and Hurkacz was the 13th seed.
