Canadian tennis has been on the radar for several years, from Milos Raonic climbing to a career-high No. 3 in the FedEx ATP Rankings to Felix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov shining under the #NextGenATP spotlight. At this US Open, Canadians have been doing better than ever, with three men from the country reaching the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.

Shapovalov rallied from the brink of defeat to oust Taylor Fritz on Friday, while on Saturday Auger-Aliassime cruised against Corentin Moutet and Vasek Pospisil battled past eighth seed Roberto Bautista Agut. Before this tournament, no Canadian trio had reached the third round of a major.

“I think tennis is already booming now in Canada over the last few years with Genie [Bouchard], Milos and myself and now Felix, Denis and Bianca [Andreescu], so we are definitely in a bit of a golden era for tennis in Canada,” Pospisil said. “Tennis has obviously been a huge and incredible part of my life. It has given me so many amazing memories and opportunities for the rest of my life, so I am thrilled that it is doing so well right now in Canada and I do think now that a lot of kids are picking up racquets over hockey sticks. Maybe there is a little bit of a shift.”

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Much of the attention over the past couple of years has gone to Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov. They are the two youngest players in the world’s Top 50 and both are inside the Top 25. Canadian NBA legend Steve Nash told ATPTour.com last September how important the duo is for tennis in their country.

“Both Denis and Felix have big, big games. [They’re] great athletes who have a lot of shots. Both I think have incredible futures,” Nash said. “The best players are the ones that get on top of their game mentally. Those young players are showing great signs. They have all the tools, and if they just continue to develop that grit and understanding, they’re going to be Top 5, Top 10 players in the world, easy.

“Denis has got all the shots. Big, big groundstrokes. Big serve. When he’s on fire, he’s unbeatable. He’s one of those guys who’s an electric player. When he gets hot, he’s unstoppable. As he gets older I think he’s going to be one of those guys who’s so hard to beat even when he doesn’t have his best stuff.”

Shapovalov first broke through at the 2017 Coupe Rogers, defeating Juan Martin del Potro and Rafael Nadal en route to the semi-finals as an 18-year-old. Auger-Aliassime received attention from his early teens, becoming the youngest player to win an ATP Challenger Tour match at 14. But instead of clashing, they have driven one another to success.

“I think we have always had a competitive friendship, rivalry, from the junior days. I feel like we have always been competing against each other, pushing each other all the way to the top and I am sure we will continue to do so,” Shapovalov said. “I think that is going to be the case for the rest of our careers.”

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They are always happy when the likes of Pospisil and Raonic enjoy success, too. After Auger-Aliassime earned his first trip to the fourth round of a major, the first Instagram Story post he made was congratulating Pospisil, writing “Massive ?.”

Shapovalov said that it’s difficult to spend too much time together during these events, adding, “I think it’s just more congratulating each other afterwards. Everyone is kind of in their own bubble, their own space and we are focussed on our own things, so we are not even checking our phones too much, but definitely receiving and sending a lot of congratulations.”

Pospisil remembers the buzz when he was on the rise alongside Raonic and WTA player Eugenie Bouchard. He believes it’s normal that fans have become attracted to Auger-Aliassime and Shapovalov given their young age.

“Felix and Denis have come and done something that no other Canadians have done… They are already doing these amazing things. That is natural. That is normal. But, of course, Milos and I were obviously still here and playing at a really high level,” Pospisil said. “Now we have four extremely capable players on the men’s side… definitely exciting times for tennis in Canada right now and it is nice to be a part of it.”

Although Raonic lost in the second round of the US Open — falling to Pospisil — the eight-time ATP Tour champion has shown top form since tennis returned, reaching the final of the Western & Southern Open. There are certainly many Canadians inspiring future generations right now.

“I don’t know how major or minor it is, but I am sure there is a significant impact with all these results that Canadians are having these last few years,” Pospisil said. “It is cool to be a part of and I think the sky is the limit for what we can do as a nation and obviously the more success we have, then success breeds success. Hopefully we will have some other superstars coming up soon in the sport.”

As happy as the players are, Shapovalov believes the friendships they’ve built with each other, especially his with Auger-Aliassime, will perhaps be even more meaningful than their results.

“I think the important thing is that we have been able to look beyond that [rivalry we have] and realise that tennis is just a small part of our lives,” Shapovalov said. “One day, we are going to stop playing and the bond, the relationship that we built, it’s going to stay.”

Dominic Thiem weathered an inspired fight from 2014 champion Marin Cilic on Saturday at the US Open, hanging tough to prevail 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in their third-round clash.

The second seed is through to the second week in New York for the fifth time in seven appearances. Although Thiem’s form has been patchy at times, his game has improved considerably from his opening-round defeat last week at the Western & Southern Open and he remains a top contender to take the title.

“I think the quick start was more because of him. He had two very tough rounds and was a little bit slow in the beginning. I took all of my chances,” Thiem said on court after the match. “Today was a good win against a great champion, so that should give me a boost.

“I’m not 100 per cent yet. I still have to raise my level if I want to go deeper. I’m normally capable of doing this in the Slams [and] hopefully here as well.”

Next up for the Austrian is No. 15 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who hasn’t dropped a set this week en route to his best showing at a Grand Slam. This will be their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“The whole package is great. He’s a great player, great person outside of the court. I think he has huge star potential. Unbelievable athlete, good looking. He has everything basically,” Thiem said. “The only thing to my advantage is experience. This is his first fourth round at a Slam, so hopefully I can play that out a bit. It’s going to be a nice one and I’m looking forward to it.” 

Thiem gave Cilic little to work with at the start of the match, camping well behind the baseline and forcing the Croatian to hit through him. Although Cilic was happy to play first-strike tennis, he became rattled by Thiem’s relentless retrieving and leaked errors from his normally reliable forehand wing. Both players hit six winners in the first set, but Thiem only struck two unforced errors while Cilic hit 13.

Cilic continued to struggle with his timing and Thiem’s consistency in the second set, enabling the 27-year-old to sprint to a 4-0 lead. Although he found his range after going down a double break, the deficit was too much to overcome. Thiem held comfortably at 5-2 and took a commanding advantage, hitting 18 winners across the first two sets to just four errors.

The Croatian was finally rewarded for his high-velocity play in the third set, earning his first break of the night after a brief dip in form from Thiem at 3-2. Cilic’s nerves were evident as he served for the set at 5-3 and the number of times he bounced the ball before serving nearly doubled. Although he struggled to find first serves, his groundstrokes never wavered. Cilic cracked a forehand winner on set point and closed the gap.

The added pressure from Cilic’s improved form began to affect Thiem’s baseline play. He hit nearly as many errors in the first five games of the fourth set (12) as he did in the first three sets combined. But the Austrian willed his way to tight service holds and took advantage of four baseline errors from Cilic to break serve at 3-2.

Cilic had opportunities to bring the match to a fifth set, but was left to rue missing all five break point opportunities. A big first serve from the second seed wrapped up play after two hours and 27 mjnutes. Thiem finished the night with 38 winners.

Alex de Minaur remembers meeting Jordan Thompson nearly a decade ago. The #NextGenATP Aussie hit with his older countryman a couple of times and their friendship has grown since.

Now, from Sydney to Flushing Meadows, they make up the first Aussie pair to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Lleyton Hewitt and Patrick Rafter in 2001.

“It [is] just amazing to see him grow up and get to the point where he has gone and me trying to follow in his footsteps,” De Minaur said.

Thompson has quietly worked through the draw. On his 20th Grand Slam main draw appearance, he is into the fourth round for the first time. He will play 27th seed Borna Coric for a spot in the quarter-finals.

“[I’m] in the fourth round and I feel like I’ve got nothing to lose,” Thompson, who is 26, said. “It’s another opportunity, but just happy to be there and I’ll give it my all as I always do.”

Thompson doesn’t sport a flashy game, nor does he grab attention with his actions on or off the court. But his improvement over the past few years is evident. In 2018, he earned one tour-level victory. Last season, he won 26 of them.

“I’ve been labelled as a pretty quiet guy and a man of few words,” Thompson told ATPTour.com last year. “I’m happy to just go about my business and let the other [Aussie] guys have bigger profiles. I like remaining under the radar.”

That will be tougher as Thompson is one of the last 16 players remaining in this Grand Slam event. De Minaur is certainly happy for his friend.

“It’s amazing. I’ve known him for a very long time. We have hit together. He’s like a big brother for me,” De Minaur said. “It’s amazing to see us both [go through] and him leading the way… Hopefully we can just keep it going. He’s playing some great tennis, and I’m really happy for him, that’s for sure.”

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Thompson won his third-round match against Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday in straight sets. De Minaur had far more trouble on Saturday against 11th seed Karen Khachanov. The Russian at one point won eight consecutive games to seemingly seize all the momentum.

But De Minaur bit down and dug his teeth into the match, sprinting from corner to corner to force Khachanov to maintain his high level. The Aussie rallied from two sets to one down to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the second consecutive year.

It’s only fitting that this year he joined Thompson.

“It’s amazing, these stats. I’m so happy that I’m able to do it with a fellow Sydneysider as Thommo,” said De Minaur, who will next play big-serving Canadian Vasek Pospisil. “We’re both out here getting some wins and I couldn’t be happier for us both. Hopefully we can just keep it going.”