PARIS -- Two children of immigrants united by a shared passion for tennis have earned Canada its second Olympic medal in the sport.

Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime won the mixed doubles bronze Friday at the Paris Games with a 6-3, 7-6 (2) victory over Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands.

"It's incredible," Auger-Aliassime said. "I've won tournaments during my individual career, but winning as a team means something different. The emotions are doubled.

"It means a lot to me. I have vivid memories of the Olympic Games ... Adding my name to the list of Canadian medallists is a great pleasure, it's a career achievement."

Canada's only other Olympic tennis medal came in 2000, when Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau beat the heavily favoured Australian duo of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde in the men's doubles final at the Sydney Games.

Nestor was born in Serbia and had a prolific doubles career representing Canada.

Meanwhile, Dabrowski is the daughter of Polish parents, while Auger-Aliassime's father is from Togo.

"The best thing about Canada is that we're extremely multicultural and that we welcome a lot of different people from a lot of different places around the world," Dabrowski said.

"We try to have a great quality of life and I feel like we're very inclusive, not every country can say that they share those values and that they're built on those principles. I find it very easy to represent Canada because I share those principles and I feel very lucky to have been born in a country that allowed for opportunity.

"The Olympics has always meant a lot, because it's so much bigger than yourself."

Auger-Aliassime has a chance to add to the medal haul when he plays for men's singles bronze on Saturday against Italy's Lorenzo Musetti.

The 23-year-old won't play for gold after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz in a semifinal earlier Friday. Alcaraz will play top seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final.

Less than three hours after his loss, Auger-Aliassime joined Dabrowski.

Dabrowski and Auger-Aliassime played with far more confidence than the day before when they lost swiftly to Czechia's Katerina Siniakova and Tomas Machac in the semifinals.

"It's crazy how a good night's sleep can make a difference," Auger-Aliassime said.

They won the last two points of the second-set tiebreaker on return, and clinched the medal when Dabrowski forced a Schuurs error on match point to end the meeting in 93 minutes.

The Canadians appeared to be coasting to victory on the clay courts of Roland Garros and led 4-2 in the second set, but the Dutch tandem held in the seventh game, then came down from a 40-15 deficit to score a lifesaving break to tie the set 4-4.

The Canadians recovered and took an early 3-0 lead in the second set tiebreaker. After Schuurs and Koolhof cut the lead to one with two points on serve, the Canadians answered with four straight points to reach the podium.

Dabrowski added an Olympic medal to her prolific record that includes a women's doubles championship at the 2023 U.S. Open and mixed doubles titles at the French Open (2017) and Australian Open (2018).

The two Canadians hugged before joining their loved ones in the stands on the edge of the court.

Auger-Aliassime said his father wasn't in Paris this week, but that he had exchanged messages with him.

"His love for Canada is even more important than that of those who were born there because this country gave him the chance to advance to another level in his life," Auger-Aliassime said. "For him it's extremely important every time I can represent the country that saw me grow up, and to do it as best I can.

"I think it's a great source of pride for him and my entire family to have contributed to an Olympic medal."

Auger-Aliassime was also happy he made amends with Dabrowski after feeling like he let her down in the semifinal.

"I felt like I wanted to be better for the team, and for Gaby because she's had a long and successful career, and this is a medal she deserves," said Auger-Aliassime. "I'm happy to be a part of it."

The day didn't start as well for Auger-Aliassime.

After four nearly perfect performances in men's singles -- including victories against No. 4 Daniil Medvedev and No. 6 Casper Ruud -- he hit a wall against Alcaraz in the semifinals.

The second-seeded Spaniard didn't face a break point and converted five of his nine break chances while cruising to victory in 75 minutes against No. 13 Auger-Aliassime.

"I was outclassed," Auger-Aliassime said after the match.

The 21-year-old Alcaraz continued his dominant form at Roland Garros, winning his 12th straight singles match at the venue after capturing the French Open title earlier this year.

"He is very, very strong," Auger-Aliassime said. "There's no doubt he's the best player in the world right now, I have to raise my level to compete with him or (Novak) Djokovic.

"In many areas of the game, he dominated me, especially in the key areas of our respective games."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 2, 2024.