Canadian teen marks birthday at Rogers Cup with loss before adoring crowd

MONTREAL — Félix Auger-Aliassime’s Rogers Cup run is over.

No. 6 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia defeated the Montreal teenager 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-3 in thirdround action at a windy and raucous IGA Stadium on Thursday.

A rising star celebrating his 19th birthday, Auger-Aliassime pushed ahead early, but he was undone by 12 double faults and a series of mistakes at key times.

Victorious in just six total outings prior to 2019, the world’s 21st-ranked player and last remaining Canadian in the men’s draw in Montreal has made three finals since February but is still looking for his first title.

Khachanov now turns his attention to the quarter-finals.

In front of a decidedly partisan gathering Thursday, AugerAliassime won a sloppy first set in gusty conditions that saw both players broken twice and commit a number of unforced errors.

Tied 7-7 in the tiebreak, Khachanov, 23, sent a shot into the net on serve and then fired another ball over the second deck and out of the venue in frustration after dropping two set points up 6-4, leading to boos.

Auger-Aliassime sealed the set on his next serve, much to the delight of the adoring crowd.

Auger-Aliassime, who started the year ranked 108th, advanced to Thursday’s round of 16 after victories in all-Canadian matchups with Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil and Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont.

Top-seed and world No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain, a four-time Rogers Cup champion, was set to take on Argentina’s Guido Pella in Thursday’s evening session.