Canadian teens advance at U.S. Open qualifiers
Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov cruised through their first-round qualifying matches at the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old Auger-Aliassime was playing his first match in more than two months after taking time off to recover from a wrist injury, but he defeated Hiroki Moriya of Japan 6-3, 6-3 in 67 minutes. He faces a tougher test Thursday in a second-round encounter with fourth-seeded Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine, who is ranked No. 97.
Shapovalov, 18, of Richmond Hill, Ont., continued the strong play that carried him to the semifinals of the Rogers Cup in Montreal by beating American Denis Kudla 6-3, 6-4. Kudla broke Shapovalov’s serve to take a 4-2 lead in the second set, but Shapovalov won the next four games.
Other Canadians entered in the men’s qualifying draw include Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont., and Toronto’s Brayden Schnur. Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and Montreal’s Françoise Abanda, who faces Alexandra Panova of Russia on Thursday, are entered in the women’s qualifying draw.
Qualifying continues through Friday. Players must win three matches to claim a spot in the main draw.
In other tennis action, Westmount native Eugenie Bouchard, ranked No. 74 in the world, was eliminated from the Connecticut Open on Tuesday night, falling in straight sets to top seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the second round.
Radwanska, the World No. 10, downed the 23-yearold from Westmount 6-3, 7-5 in one hour, 45 minutes.