RAONIC ROCKS
NEW YORK — Canada’s Denis Shapovalov is moving on at the U.S. Open tennis tournament after his compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime was forced to retire in the third set of their first-round match on Monday.
The clash between the promising Canadian teenagers was cut short with Shapovalov leading, 7-5, 5-7, 4-1.
Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, who was making his first appearance in the main draw of a Grand Slam, was attended to by medical staff during a changeover in the third set and said his heart was racing.
The 18-year-old attempted to return to play after a pause, but retired after looking out of sorts for the next three games.
Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., embraced a tearful Auger-Aliassime at centre court after the match ended.
Shapovalov is 19, making him the youngest player in the ATP top 100. Auger-Aliassime just turned 18 on Aug. 8, making him youngest player in the ATP top 200. Their combined age made this the youngest U.S. Open men’s match since 2006, when Novak Djokovic, 19, beat Donald Young, 17.
In other men’s first-round action, Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil downed Lukas Lacko of Slovakia in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.
He is slated to take on the winner of a head-to-head matchup up between Spaniards Rafael Nadal, the top seed, and David Ferrer.
Earlier Monday, Milos Raonic advanced to the second round of the U.S. Open with a 7-6 (4), 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 victory over Argentine qualifier Carlos Berlocq on Monday.
The hard-serving star from Thornhill, Ont., fired 26 aces past Berlocq and won 91 per cent of his first service points.
It wasn’t a clean win for Raonic, who committed 45 unforced errors compared to Berlocq’s 11.
Raonic, the 25th seed in New York, will next face France’s Gilles Simon.