NEW YORK — Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal promised fans he was "getting closer" after a recent rash of disappointing showings.
After taking down the world's third-ranked Alexander Zverev of Germany in Saturday's third round of the U.S. Open, he wagged his finger at Louis Armstrong Stadium to indicate he's not going anywhere but up at the Grand Slam in the Big Apple.
"This one feels very good," the 25-year-old smiling Canadian said moments after the milestone victory, which marked the first time he had beaten a player ranked in the top five at a major.
"I've worked very hard to get here, but the job is still not done. But this one feels so great."
Auger-Aliassime defeated Zverev 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours, 49 minutes to move on to the fourth round and a Monday date with Andrey Rublev of Russia.
Auger-Aliassime dominated on winners with 50 compared to Zverev's 29. The Canadian had more unforced errors (35-31) and double faults (8-5), and fewer aces (12-10).
But the tide in the match changed in the third set and by the time the players reached the fourth set Zverev appeared to run out of ways to solve his 25th-seeded rival.
Auger-Aliassime won 78 per cent of his first and second serves. He won three of six break points and 14 per cent of the return games.
Earlier Saturday, Canadian Denis Shapovalov was ousted from the U.S. Open following a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 third-round loss to top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy.
The Richmond Hill, Ont., native leapt out to a 5-2 lead until Sinner stormed back to knot things up at 5-5 before the 27th-seeded Shapovalov took the opening set.
In the second set, Shapovalov held a 3-2 edge before Sinner won four of the next five games to even up the match at one set apiece.
Shapovalov again jumped out to an early lead, this time 3-0, in the third set. However, Sinner went on to win the next six games to put the Canadian on his heels.
In the fourth and final set, it was Sinner who grabbed some early momentum, taking a 4-1 lead to eventually close out the match.
Shapovalov had 15 aces to nine double faults and converted three of his six breakpoint opportunities. However, he had 47 unforced errors to Sinner's 36.
Sinner, meanwhile, had just two aces and five double faults while breaking on six of 13 chances.
In women's doubles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., alongside American tennis legend Venus Williams, marched through to the third round with a 7-6 (1), 6-1 win over Japan's Eri Hozumi and Norway's Ulrikke Eikeri.
Fernandez and Williams broke on four of their seven chances, won 79 per cent of their first-serve points and fired 29 winners to their opponents' 19.
The duo will next face the winner between Great Britain's Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal and Shuai Zhang and Russia's Ekaterina Alexandrova.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 30, 2025.
The Canadian Press
