TORONTO (AP) – Felix Auger-Aliassime, who played in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, succumbed in his first Masters match in his native Canada on Wednesday, 7-5, 6-4 to Dusan Lajovic.
Auger-Aliassime, originally from Montreal, was the ninth seeded of the tournament and advanced directly to the second round. He was coming off losing the first round match at the Tokyo Olympics.
“I played a lot of tennis, although I did not win many matches at the Olympics last week,” acknowledged Auger-Alassime. “There was a lot of travel, a lot of training, a lot of balls hit and I think that caused some havoc on me. I do not know”.
Denis Shapovalov, another local tennis player, fell 6-1, 6-4 to American Frances Tiafoe.
Shapovalov came in as the fifth favorite and should not have played the first round either.
“Obviously this was not the ideal performance, so I am by no means happy,” he said after the defeat in the second round.
Tiafoe will face Frenchman Gael Monfils (11th) or Australian John Millman in the third round on Thursday.
In the women’s tournament, which takes place in Montreal, Canadian Rebecca Marino, who arrived by invitation, continued to live by beating Paula Badosa 1-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Marino, 30, stunned by beating 16th seed Madison Keys in the first round.
Marino’s best ranking was 39th in the world in 2011, but he walked away from the sport for nearly five years due to depression. It is currently located at number 220.
Marino will face first-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4.
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