The quarterfinals of the boys’ singles at the 2016 French Open took place on Friday, with only two seeded players advancing to the last eight. Both of those seeded players were Canadian, as the Great White North continued its great run at the tournament with two of its three players reaching the last four. Here’s what happened on Friday at Roland Garros in boys’ singles.
Results
The blockbuster match of the day saw top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece take on fifth seed Denis Shapovalov of Canada. Tsitsipas had no answer for the Shapovalov serve, as the Canadian upset the top seed 6-4, 6-2. Both men had their chances at breaks in the opening set but struggled to convert. It would be Shapovalov who grabbed the lone break, which would prove to be enough to edge the opener, leaving the top seed to regret four missed break points. The Canadian took full control in the second set, breaking Tsitsipas twice on three opportunities, while not allowing the Greek a single break point.
Shapovalov’s countryman and doubles partner Félix Auger-Aliassime was also victorious in his quarterfinal against a seeded opponent, ousting 14th seed Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-3, 7-5. Auger-Aliassime controlled most of the first set and managed a pair of breaks. One bad game allowed Olivieri to recover one, but generally the Argentinian struggled on his return, only winning nine points against the Canadians’ serve in the opener. The second set was tighter, with both men missing break points before a late break gave the 11th seed the win.
Benjamin Sigouin was the lone Canadian casualty in the quarterfinals. Sigouin fell to local favourite Geoffrey Blancaneaux 6-3, 7-5. In the opening frame, unlike the other men challenging the Canadians, Blancaneaux was able to attack the Canadians serve effectively, winning half of his return points and breaking twice. Sigouin only managed one break of his own in the first set. The second was back-and-forth, with both men breaking twice in the early stages before the Frenchman finally grabbed the crucial date late. Blancaneaux will take on Shapovalov in the semifinals.
The final match of the day, and the only one not featuring a Canadian saw Spaniard Nicola Kuhn battle back from a set down against Marvin Moller to book his place in the semifinals with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Moller was the dominant player in the opening set, breaking twice and saving the long break point he faced. But Kuhn improved his return game in the second set, breaking three times while limiting his opponent to two. He seemed to wear his opponent down in the deciding set, converting all three of his break points to advance to the semifinals.
The semifinals will take place tomorrow, with Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime looking to set an all-Canadian final. Shapovalov will play Blancaneaux while Auger-Aliassime will take on Kuhn.