Canadian Auger-Aliassime advances to second round at Miami Open

MIAMI — Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime is through to the second round of men's singles at the Miami Open.

Auger-Aliassime, of Montreal, dispatched Australian qualifier Adam Walton 7-5, 6-4 in a first-round match Thursday. Auger-Aliassime joins Denis Shapovalov, of Richmond Hill, Ont., in the second round.

Shapovalov won his opening-round match on Wednesday

The unseeded Auger-Aliassime, currently No. 36 in the ATP rankings, will next face fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany on Friday. Meanwhile, Shapovalov is set to play against No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.

Auger-Aliassime had to work for his opening-set victory. Leading 5-4, Walton was up 40-15 in the 10th game and threatening to break Auger-Aliassime before the Canadian prevailed to tie the match en route to the eventual 7-5 victory.

After going ahead 5-4 in the second set, Auger-Aliassime served out the match for the win. The Canadian finished with 11 aces and won 81 per cent on his first serve.

He also earned two breaks in four attempts while Walton was 0-5.

In women's doubles, the second-seeded team of Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand defeated China's Hanyu Guo and Norway's Ulrikke Eikeri 6-3, 6-2.

Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Que., will play her opening match Friday against Emiliana Arango of Colombia.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 21, 2024.