Canadian teen Auger-Aliassime stuns No. 18 Pouille to move to second round at Rogers Cup
TORONTO — Canadian wild-card Felix Auger-Aliassime upset Lucas Pouille of France, 6-4, 6-3, at the Rogers Cup on Tuesday, cruising into the second round in his main draw debut at the Masters 1000 tennis tournament.
The Montreal native, ranked a career-high No. 133 in the world heading into the week, needed one hour 18 minutes to down the No. 18 Pouille on centre court at the Aviva Centre.
Auger-Aliassime, on the eve of his 18th birthday, saved five of six break points and converted on three of six. He also fired five aces — including four in the second set alone — and won 73 per cent of his first-service points. The teen started strong, breaking Pouille in the second game of the first set, then fighting off triple break point for a 3-0 lead.
Pouille broke the Canadian while he was serving for the set at 5-3, but Auger-Aliassime bounced back with another break for set point, letting out an approving roar as fans waved Canada flags.
Auger-Aliassime converted on another break point in the second set and held serve the rest of the way to secure just his second career win at a Masters 1000 event. He will face Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev in the second round. Medvedev upset 13thseeded American Jack Sock on Monday.
Auger-Aliassime won his first Masters 1000 event at Indian Wells in April, defeating fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the opening round to become the first player born in the 21st century to win a Masters-level match.
Auger-Aliassime lost in the qualifying round at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in 2016 and had to withdraw his wild card entry to the 2017 tournament in Montreal due to a left wrist injury.
Earlier Tuesday, four-time champion Novak Djokovic advanced to the second round with a 6-3, 7-6 (7) win over lucky loser Mirza Basic, and former world No. 3 Stan Wawrinka came back to beat 16th-seed Nick Kyrgios, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Djokovic, the ninth seed in Toronto, took care of his serve in the win over his Bosnian opponent. Djokovic had nine aces and converted 76 per cent of his first-service points and 79 per cent of his secondservice points. The Serbian star, coming off a win at Wimbledon this year, will next face wild-card Peter Polansky of Thornhill, Ont.
In another first-round upset, Robin Haase of the Netherlands downed Japan’s Kei Nishikori 7-5, 6-1. Americans Sam Querrey, Frances Tiafoe and Ryan Harrison joined Russia’s Karen Khachanov and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas as other first-round winners. Tiafoe will face Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., in the second round.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., played his first-round match against France’s Jeremy Chardy later Tuesday.