ATP Tour

Auger-Aliassime makes history at Roland Garros: 'I feel at home'

Felix Auger-Aliassime broke new ground at Roland Garros on Monday, when the 25-year-old Canadian powered into his first quarter-final in Paris and etched his name into the history books.

The fourth seed delivered an authoritative display to defeat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 7-5, 6-1, sealing victory in two hours and six minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier. With his win, Auger-Aliassime became the first Canadian man to reach the quarter-finals at all four Grand Slam tournaments.

“I’m so happy,” Auger-Aliassime said in French in his on-court interview. “It’s a childhood dream to even play here. I came here for the first time when I was maybe 12 and it’s always been a dream to play here. I’m not French… But I feel at home. Thank you to everyone.”

Having previously fallen in the fourth round in Paris in 2022 and 2024, Auger-Aliassime has now advanced to his fifth major quarter-final and is just the fourth man born in the 2000s to reach that mark. The 25-year-old joins Carlos Alcaraz (14), Jannik Sinner (14) and Ben Shelton (5).

Following Juan Manuel Cerundolo's second-round upset of an ailing World No. 1 Sinner, Auger-Aliassime is the highest-ranked player left in the top half of the draw. The World No. 6, who will sense his opportunity to advance to a first major final, thrilled the crowd during his clash with Tabilo, highlighted by a game in the third set in which he fired four straight aces.

By improving to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Tabilo, Auger-Aliassime set a quarter-final clash with Flavio Cobolli. The Italian dropped his first set of the tournament earlier on Monday, but held firm for a 6-2, 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) win over Zachary Svajda.

With his run to a first quarter-final in Paris, Cobolli is up three spots to No. 11 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. He will surpass Alexander Bublik to reach World No. 10 if he defeats Auger-Aliassime.