Canadians Shapovalov, Auger-Aliassime advance to quarter-finals in Marseille
Raonic advances to quarterfinals of Delray Beach Open after straight set win
Three Canadians will play in the quarter-finals of the Open 13 Provence tennis tournament.
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime ensured a Canadian trio would compete in the final eight by outlasting France's Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-0, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (9) in a second-round match on Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Auger-Aliassime saved three match points against Herbert, one day after fighting off match point twice against Italy's Stefano Travaglia.
Earlier Thursday, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., ended a four-match losing streak with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Croatia's Marin Cilic in the second round. The fourth-seeded Shapovalov had a first-round bye at the ATP Tour 250 indoor hardcourt event.
Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil earned a quarter-final berth Wednesday.
WATCH | 7th-seeded Auger-Aliassime advances to quarter-finals:
It's the first time three Canadians have reached the quarter-finals in an ATP Tour tournament since a 1990 event in Rio de Janeiro, when Martin Laurendeau (quarter-finals), Martin Wostenholme (semifinals) and Andrew Sznajder (finalist) made it into the final eight.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 18th in the world, needed two hours 40 minutes to eliminate the 79th-ranked Herbert.
The Canadian was excellent on serve, never facing a break point. He had 16 aces, two double faults and won 85 per cent of points when he got his first serve in.
Auger-Aliassime will face Egor Gerasimov in the quarterfinals Friday after the Belarusian upset No. 3 seed David Goffin of Belgium 6-4, 7-6 (5).
The fourth-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., received a first-round bye before dispatching the 39th-ranked Cilic in just under two hours.
WATCH | Shapovalov secures spot in Open 13 quarter-finals:
Shapovalov, ranked 15th, had 17 aces and just two double faults versus Cilic. The Canadian saved six of seven break points he faced.
Shapovalov will meet world No. 55 Alexander Bublik of Kakakhstan in the quarter-finals.
Pospisil will battle No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in another quarter-final.
The final quarter-final pits No. 1 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia against Gilles Simon of France.
Raonic reaches quarterfinals at Delray Beach
Canada's Milos Raonic downed Germany's Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open.
Raonic, ranked No. 37 and seeded second at the tournament, fired 11 aces to Stebe's five and won 78 per cent of his first-serve points.
The Thornhill, Ont., product saved all three break points he faced and converted on 2 of 4 to beat his 147th-ranked opponent.
The match took one hour 37 minutes.
WATCH | Raonic dispatches Stebe in straight sets:
Raonic will face Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament Friday. Johnson beat wild card Jack Sock 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 earlier in the day.
Also Thursday, Frances Tiafoe advanced to his first ATP Tour quarterfinal this year by beating fellow American Tommy Paul 7-5, 7-6 (4).
Raonic made the final at Delray Beach against Sock in 2017, but the Canadian withdrew with a hamstring tear in his right leg before the match.