Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov win second round marathon matches at 2022 Australian Open

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Maxwell Fung, Wikimedia Commons)

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec and Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario are both in the third round of the 2022 Australian Open in Melbourne. However, both had tough tests in round two, but got through to the final 32, despite not necessarily playing their best tennis.

Case in point, in Auger-Aliassime’s 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Thursday, which lasted four hours and 19 minutes, Auger-Aliassime had 83 unforced errors. Meanwhile, Shapovalov defeated Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea, 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 7-5, 6-2, in a match that went four hours and 25 minutes, and saw Shapovalov commit 77 unforced errors.

The ace categories which saw Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov have a massive advantage over their opponents. Auger-Aliassime had 28 aces compared to only six for Davidovich-Fokina. Meanwhile, Shapovalov had 29 aces, compared to three for Kwon.

Auger-Aliassime, who is the ninth seed, will next face the 24th seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain in round three. Evans may have the advantage because he did not have to play his second round match as Arthur Rinderknech of France had to pull out with a wrist injury. Evans won their only prior match, which took place in the final of the 2021 Murray River Open in Melbourne, 6-2, 6-3, a tuneup event for the 2021 Australian Open.

Shapovalov, who is the 14th seed, will next play 23rd ranked Reilly Opelka of the United States. This will be their first career meeting in an ATP main draw event.

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