NEW YORK, September 10, 2016
Two 16-year-old Canadians are one step closer to victory in New York after Bianca Andreescu (Mississauga, Ont.) and Felix Auger-Aliassime (Montreal) both captured their quarterfinal matches at the Junior US Open on Friday to reach the semi-finals in their respective draws. With their wins, Canada is the only country to be represented by both a girl and boy in the final four.
No. 7 seed Andreescu is into her first Slam semifinal following a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over US-American Vanessa Ong. She will next take on another U.S. native, world No. 5 Kayla Day, against whom she is 2-1. This will be their first meeting this season.
Ranked world No. 11 in juniors, Andreescu also clinched her first pro title earlier this summer at the $25,000 Gatineau National Bank Challenger.
For his part, Auger-Aliassime dropped just three games en route to a 6-1, 6-2 triumph opposite Patrick Kypson of the United States. Auger-Aliassime, ranked world No. 9 and seeded No. 6 in New York, is through to his second Slam semifinal of the season, as he finished as runner-up at Roland Garros in June.
He will take on junior world No. 1 Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the final. The 18-year-old from Greece defeated Kenneth Raisma 6-1, 7-6. Auger-Aliassime is currently 2-0 against the 18-year-old Tsitsipas, who competed just last week at the $25,000 pro tournament in Calgary and made the semifinals.
All-Canadian Duo Reach Doubles Final
Auger-Aliassime is also going for the repeat victory in the doubles draw. The 2015 Junior US Open doubles champion and 17-year-old partner Benjamin Sigouin (Vancouver) saved a match point en route to advancing into the final on Friday with a 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 triumph over Japan’s Toru Horie and Yuta Shimizu.
The No. 3-seeded duo are now one win from making it two straight years for a Canadian championship in New York. Last year, Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov became the first all-Canadian pair to win a junior Slam in 25 years.
In Saturday’s final, they will face Bolivian-Brazilian team Juan Carlos Manuel Aguilar and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves.
