AUGER-ALIASSIME LOSES AT MONTE CARLO

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated from the clay-court Monte Carlo Masters tournament on Wednesday after dropping a secondround match 6-4, 7-5 to Lorenzo Sonego of Italy.

Auger-Aliassime, ranked 35th in the world, fired just three aces while committing 13 unforced errors in a twohour and two-minute match.

Sonego, ranked 57th, was a replacement for world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, who pulled out of the tournament Tuesday because of a muscle injury to his right forearm.

With the win, Sonego evened his career record against Auger-Aliassime at 2-2.

He will next play either Zhizhen Zhang of China or 14th-seeded Ugo Humbert of France in the round of 16.

Later, after dominating on aggressive hard courts, Jannik Sinner made a smooth transition to softer clay by beating Sebastian Korda 6-1, 6-2 in the second round of the tournament on Wednesday.

Defending champion Andrey Rublev was eliminated after a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Alexei Popyrin.

Sinner won 95 per cent of points on his first serve and saved all three break points in improving his record to 23-1 this year. He has three titles in 2024, including the Australian Open — his first major trophy — and recently the Miami Open.

“I moved quite well in these conditions,” said the 22-yearold Italian, who reached the semifinals at Monte Carlo last year. “Every year it is tough to come here and perform well but I am happy with the performance.”

Sinner next faces Jan-Lennard Struff on Thursday in the third round, where he will join two-time champions Novak Djokovic — who won on Tuesday — and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The 12th-seeded Tsitsipas routed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-1, 6-0, breaking his serve six times, and next faces No. 5 Alexander Zverev.

The sixth-seeded Rublev dropped his serve three times against Popyrin, who next faces No. 11 Alex de Minaur in an all-Australian contest at the Monte Carlo Country Club, which overlooks the Mediterranean Sea.

De Minaur rallied past unseeded Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Also in the second round, there were wins for No. 14 Ugo Humbert and No. 15 Karen Khachanov.