Mboko, Auger-Aliassime End Canadian Skid at Roland-Garros; Shapovalov Stunned

By Tennis Canada

May 26, 2026

Match Results Roland-Garros ATP WTA

Canada had to wait a while to get in the win column at Roland-Garros, but Victoria Mboko and Félix Auger-Aliassime were able to deliver on day three at the season’s second Grand Slam event.

With Leylah Annie Fernandez and Gabriel Diallo already out over the first two days and Denis Shapovalov being defeated earlier on Tuesday, Mboko was the first Canuck to pick up a win in Paris this spring. The 19-year-old from Burlington eased past Roland-Garros debutant Nikola Bartunkova by a score of 6-1, 6-2 in her opening match, returning to the second round after making her Grand Slam debut at the event just last year.

Bartunkova held her own despite the scoreline, but Mboko’s power proved too much in the end, leading to the Canadian No. 1 breaking on six of ten attempts.

Mboko quickly put out what was a fiery start from Bartunkova, who powered four of her 19 total winners in the opening two games. The Canadian took control starting in the third game, converting on two of four break points to take a commanding 4-1 advantage. The 19-year-old didn’t look back from there, firing back-to-back winners at 4-1, 30-15, to consolidate her break before forcing a second-consecutive loss of serve as she wrapped up the first set in 35 minutes.

Bartunkova was unfazed to begin the second though, aggressive on her way to her first break in the opening game. However, Mboko broke back to keep the set balanced.

The Burlingtonian got a bit of fortune at 2-3, 15-30, after a net cord set her up with double break point, which she converted on the first try. Three straight unreturned serves from 4-2, 15-all, brought Mboko one game away from round two.

The world No. 9 had match point as soon as the next game, capitalizing on her second with a rocket return and putting an end to the contest in a little over an hour.

Mboko makes another trip to Roland-Garros round two in just her second main-draw appearance at the event. The Canadian will meet Katerina Siniakova after a day off in singles. The teen will be back on the Parisian dirt on Wednesday in doubles as her and Alexandra Eala take on Canadian Leylah Annie Fernandez and her teammate Diana Shnaider in round one.

Auger-Aliassime Survives Scare

For the second time in his career, Félix Auger-Aliassime escaped a first-round match at Roland-Garros in five sets. He rallied from two-sets-to-one down and a break down in the fifth set against Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, narrowly sneaking into round two with a 4-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7) victory in four hours and 16 minutes.

In his first match as Top 4 seed at a major, the 25-year-old from Montreal struck 33 winners but had 49 unforced errors. Both men broke serve four times and in the end, the Canadian won just one more point, 100 to 99.

Auger-Aliassime got off to a disastrous start, committing three straight errors on the first three points to fall behind love-40 in the opening game. He saved the first two break points but netted his backhand on the third to fall behind early. That quick break proved costly for the Canadian as he missed his only two chances to break back in the sixth game and Altmaier rode that opening break to a one-set lead.

He got off to a better start in the second, ripping a passing shot winner to set up a break point in Altmaier’s first service game. The German netted his forehand to give Auger-Aliassime a quick 2-0 lead.

Maintaining advantages proved troublesome for the Montrealer in set two. He failed to consolidate that early break, sending a forehand long to gift the break right back. He broke again to set himself up to serve for the set at 5-3 but could not close it out, committing back-to-back unforced errors from deuce to put the set back on serve.

In the end, Auger-Aliassime did not need to worry about closing it out on his own. Serving to draw level at five, Altmaier sent a backhand long to give the Canadian a break/set point where Auger-Aliassime found a winner to even the match at a set apiece.

However, he was unable to build any momentum from the late break that stole him the second set. Just like the first, Auger-Aliassime got off to a poor start in set three. He once again was broken in his opening service game and this time never had a break-point chance to get back on serve as the German hung on to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

For the first time in the match, Altmaier’s hyper-consistent level dropped early in the fourth set. Serving at 1-2, the German missed back-to-back forehands at deuce to gift the break to Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian was then finally able to consolidate a break after saving a pair of break points in the fifth game with a big serve and a lazer of a forehand winner, getting the hold to go up 4-1.

With that monkey off his back, Auger-Aliassime found another gear. Suddenly, his big shots appeared to be breaking down Altmaier’s defence and it earned him a second break to go up 5-1, with the German double-faulting on break point. The Canadian had no trouble serving out the final game to send the match to a decider.

For the third time in his seven main-draw appearances at Roland-Garros, Auger-Aliassime found himself battling through a fifth set in round one. Despite his strong finish to set four, the No. 4 seed got off to another slow start in the decider, falling behind love-40 in his first service game. On the second break point, Altmaier blasted an inside-out forehand winner to earn yet another early break.

With his back against the wall down 1-4 in the fifth, Auger-Aliassime refound his form from the previous set. He missed a chance to break back in the fifth game but had a look at 15-40 in the seventh. On the second break point, he teed off on a series of huge forehands, finally finishing with a swinging inside-out forehand winner to get back on serve.

The epic encounter came right down to the wire. Auger-Aliassime raced out to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak thanks to a pair of Altmaier errors, but the Canadian let him back in it with back-to-back backhand misses of his own. At 6-5, Auger-Aliassime produced a bit of magic, curling a forehand passing shot past the German to move ahead a minibreak again 7-5.

Even though he gave the minibreak back for 8-7, the No. 4 seed managed to secure the last two points on Altmaier’s serve to escape, with the German sending a smash long on match point.

Next up for Auger-Aliassime will be Roman Andres Burrachaga of Argentina.

Shapovalov Stunned by Qualifier in Round One

Denis Shapovalov was the third Canuck to fall in the Roland-Garros first round, losing to Portuguese qualifier Jaime Faria 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old from Richmond Hill was aggressive on the dirt, firing 33 winners and ten aces, but with that came the unforced errors as he committed 48 along with eight double faults. Many of those errors led to the Canadian No. 2 facing eight break points on the day, where Faria efficiently converted on half.

Shapovalov had a promising intro to the match, holding comfortably from 40-15 in each of his opening two service games while getting his ace tally started right away with two over that span. In the second game, the Richmond Hillian was knocking on the door at love-30, but Faria served well to avoid the early break.

Despite the solid start, the Portuguese soon took the edge of the set. At 2-2, two double faults out of Shapovalov handed Faria the break as the world No. 115 consolidated the loss of serve to lead 4-2. The Canadian’s best chance to equalize came at 4-3, 30-40, but Faria won seven-straight points behind his serve to close out the opening set.

Shapovalov nearly had a perfect response in the second, seeing Faria hit his second serve long at 1-2, love-30, for triple break point. However, the Portuguese remained cool and escaped the heavy pressure. Service holds continued to be hard to come by as the next three games were settled after deuce, with Shapovalov having to save break point at 3-3, 30-40.

Just when the Canuck found his groove on serve, holding to love in the ninth game, he was back under stress at 5-5, 15-40, losing serve before Faria sealed the set on his delivery.

Shapovalov was on the back foot early in the third after he was broken at 1-2. The world No. 39 managed to break back immediately but couldn’t back it up as Faria still had the advantage in the set, up 3-2.

The Canadian held his nerve to save match point at 3-5, 30-40, putting the pressure on Faria to serve to seal the win. Shapovalov held break point at 30-40 but conceded the final three points of the match to put an end to his clay-court season.

Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak