Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec are each in the fourth round of the 2022 French Open. On Friday in the third round, Auger-Aliassime, the ninth seed, defeated Filip Krajinovic of Serbia, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5. Meanwhile, Fernandez, the 17th seed, upset the 14th seed and Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5.
In Auger-Aliassime’s win, the 21-year-old Canadian was dominant on his serve. He had 16 aces compared to only one for Krajinovic. He also won 85% of his points on his first serve, and broke Krajinovic thrice. It was in the tiebreaks where Felix was dominant, as he won 14 of 19 points. He beat Krajinovic 7-3 in the first set and 7-2 in the second set.
In Fernandez’s win, the 19-year-old Canadian broke Bencic at key moments in the first and third sets. This was the second time Fernandez has beaten Bencic, as she also beat her 6-2, 7-6 in FedCup action in Switzerland in 2020.
Auger-Aliassime will next play fifth seed and 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal of Spain in the fourth round. Nadal won their only prior meeting, 6-3, 6-3 in the second round of Madrid in 2019. Fernandez will next play the 27th seed and 2019 French Open semifinalist Amanda Anisimova of the United States. Fernandez won their only prior battle in the second round of Indian Wells in 2022.
