World number 9 Félix Auger-Aliassime defeated Filip Krajinovic (55th) on Friday in the 3rd round of Roland-Garros after three particularly contested sets, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7-2 ), 7-5, and will face Rafael Nadal in the round of 16. After a complicated opening where he had to overcome a handicap two sets behind against Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas in the first round, the recent quarter-finalist in Madrid and Rome was able to stay focused until the end against to the Serb, who pushed him twice to play a decisive game and had even broken him in the 3rd set. But armed with an effective first ball (16 aces, 85% points won on his first serve), the 21-year-old Canadian got away with it after three intense hours.
Defeated in his first two participations in the Parisian Grand Slam, in 2020 (by Nishioka) and 2021 (by Seppi), Auger-Aliassime, who won his first ATP title in Rotterdam this year, reached for the first time the 8th Porte d’Auteuil. This is the Major where he was least prolific for the moment, he who has already reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open and the semi-finals at the US Open over the past year. ‘flow out.