Félix Auger-Aliassime kept moving through Roland-Garros on Thursday, beating Roman Andrés Burruchaga 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1 to reach the third round for the first time in two years.
The win pushed Auger-Aliassime into the Paris third round for the third time and raised him to 21 wins in 2026. It also answered the immediate question around his tournament: after a draining previous round, he found a way to clear another hurdle without going the distance again.
That earlier match still hung over the day. Two days before Thursday, Auger-Aliassime spent four hours and 17 minutes beating Daniel Altmaier, a match in which he trailed 1-4 in the deciding set before surviving the first fifth-set tie-break of the tournament. Against Burruchaga, he dropped the first set for the second match running, then took control in a way that suggested the effort had not emptied him out.
Burruchaga, ranked world No. 68, had already used his chance to get to the second round after Sebastián Báez retired from their first-round match. He made the opening set count, but Auger-Aliassime answered with a second set that turned the match sharply in his favor and a fourth set that ended the contest quickly. The scoreline left no doubt about the Canadian’s hold on the match once he settled.
The contrast with the first round added weight to the result. Auger-Aliassime had needed every ounce of his stamina against Altmaier, yet he was still able to finish Burruchaga off comfortably in four sets. That mattered in a section of the draw where Daniil Medvedev, the sixth seed, was already out after losing to Adam Walton in the first round.
Now Auger-Aliassime waits for the next name to emerge from the bracket. He will face the winner of Luca Van Assche and Brandon Nakashima in the third round, and the way he handled Thursday’s match suggests he arrives there with momentum, not merely survival.
