U.S. Open: Canadian friendship put to test in the first round
When Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov meet each other at the U.S. Open Monday, they’ll have to set aside their friendship as they put the future of Canadian tennis on full display.
As rising stars on the ATP Tour, they’ll probably have to get used to doing that.
“It’s unfortunate they have to play each other in the first round, but quite frankly this is going to be the first of many times they’ll lock horns,” said Michael Downey, the president and CEO of Tennis Canada. “They both want to win and they’re professionals and they know the winner gets to play Wednesday in the second round ... (But) they’ll enter as friends and they’ll exit as friends.”
The teenagers — 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime of Montreal and 19-year-old Shapovalov of Richmond Hill — clash early Monday night on the grand stand at Billie Jean King Tennis Center.
Shapovalov, ranked 28th on the ATP Tour, earned direct entry into his second U.S. Open, while Auger-Aliassime, 116th, had to go through three qualifying matches.
Auger-Aliassime set a record while doing that, becoming the first man born in the 21st century to qualify for the main draw at a major.
No. 25 Milos Raonic of Thornhill, No. 88 Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver and No. 120 Peter Polansky, also from Thornhill, round out the Canadian contingent on the men’s main draw while Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., qualified on the women’s side.
Shapovalov, who arrived in New York a week before the tournament started, said he’d been hanging out with Auger-Aliassime around the courts and was delighted to see his friend playing so well.
“I feel like there’s a growing belief in Canada that you can make it as a tennis player,” he said.
Both Shapovalov and AugerAliassime have had success at the U.S. Open. They teamed up to win the boys’ doubles title there in 2015 — before Shapovalov let his blond locks grow — and AugerAliassime won the junior singles championship a year later. Shapovalov then stunned the tennis world with his 2017 main draw run that included a victory over JoWilfried Tsonga under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium.