Open heat takes toll quickly

When their first tour-level matchup ended abruptly at the U.S. Open on Monday, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime — a pair of Canadian teens and longtime pals — met at the net for a hug and sweet exchange.

The 28th-seeded Shapovalov rubbed the 117th-ranked Auger-Aliassime’s head as tears began to fall. He consoled his buddy. He told him not to worry about having to stop while trailing in the third set because of heat exhaustion. This was, after all, merely a firstround meeting. One day, Shapovalov assured Auger-Aliassime, they’ll square off again at Flushing Meadows — for the championship.

Shapovalov was leading, 7-5, 5-7, 4-1, when Auger-Aliassime retired. Auger-Aliassime already had been visited by a doctor during a changeover in the third set and said his heart was racing on a muggy day when the temperature reached 91 degrees.

“It’s tough to see a friend go down like that. It was tough. When I saw that he was struggling, I still had to keep trying to win, keep kind of pounding it on him. It wasn’t easy for me,” Shapovalov said.

SECOND SLOANE

Defending champion Sloane Stephens is into the second round of the U.S. Open.

Stephens, the No. 3 seed, defeated Evgeniya Rodina of Russia, 6-1, 7-5, in the rebuilt Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Stephens won her first Grand Slam title last year at Flushing Meadows when she beat fellow American Madison Keys in the final.

Unseeded when she won last year’s event, Stephens also reached the final of this year’s French Open.