Raonic lone Canadian left in singles
Auger-Aliassime loses to Ugo Humbert in Wimbledon play
WIMBLEDON, ENGLAND — Milos Raonic is off to the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the fifth time in his career, but he won’t be joined by fellow Canadian Felix AugerAliassime.
Raonic, the No. 15 seed from Thornhill, Ont., is the lone Canadian left in either singles draw at the Grand Slam after Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime lost 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 to Ugo Humbert of France in the third round on Friday.
Earlier, Raonic defeated American Reilly Opelka 7-6 (1), 6-2, 6-1.
Nineteenth-seeded AugerAliassime recorded his first two career Grand Slam victories this tournament, but the 18-year-old from Montreal fell short of setting up a fourth-round showdown against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic.
“Pressure got to me ... It got to a point where it was a bit embarrassing,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It was just tough. I just wasn’t finding ways. I think he just did what he had to do. He was solid. From my end, it was pretty embarrassing.”
Auger-Aliassime had 24 winners and 32 unforced errors. The 21-year-old Humbert, who is ranked 66th in the world, had 22 of each.
Two Canadian men never have advanced to the round of 16 in a Grand Slam in the same year.
Raonic, meanwhile, was happy with his performance.
“I thought it was good. I did the things I wanted to do,” Raonic said. “You know, when it was important, I played as well as I could have.”
Raonic, the 2016 Wimbledon runner-up, hasn’t lost a set this tournament. He’ll face No. 26 seed Guido Pella in the fourth round after the Argentine veteran upset No. 4 Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4).
Pella, 29, and Raonic, 28, never have faced each other.
Pella is in the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the first time.
“It’s going to be tough,” Raonic said. “He played well here last year, beating Marin (Cilic), obviously getting a good win today, and even in his last match over (Andreas) Seppi who has always played well on grass. He’s been on tour for a long time, and I don’t know if he’s been to this stage of a Grand Slam. But ... to beat Kevin (Anderson) here, that’s a job very well done.”
In a matchup of big servers on Friday, Raonic broke Opelka twice in each of the last two sets. Both players finished with 13 aces each but Raonic had only seven unforced errors to Opelka’s 31.
The six-foot-11 Opelka was making his Wimbledon debut and knocked out three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the second round.