Felix Auger-Aliassime understands the reputation of New York as a city that never sleeps. After a delayed start and a lengthy match lasting three hours and 19 minutes, including a 55-minute rain delay, the Montreal tennis player can empathize with the non-stop nature of The Big Apple.
Auger-Aliassime, the third seed at the U.S. Open, emerged victorious in his first-round singles encounter on Monday night by defeating Australia’s Rinky Hijiata with a scoreline of 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Reflecting on the match, Auger-Aliassime mentioned, “We’ve known each other since we were around 10 years old, but this is our first time competing against each other. He presented several challenges on the court… but most importantly, I have progressed to the next round.”
The Canadian displayed an impressive performance with 17 aces, 48 winners, and 11 double faults, along with 50 unforced errors. Auger-Aliassime managed to win 18 out of 22 service games and six out of 21 return games. He is set to face Russian Karen Khachanov next, who secured victory against Roman Burruchaga of Argentina in straight sets.
In other matches, Denis Shapovalov from Richmond Hill, Ont., is gearing up for his second-round men’s singles match against France’s Luca Van Assche on Wednesday. Shapovalov triumphed over Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia in four sets on Sunday, while Van Assche defeated Britain’s Cameron Norrie, also in four sets.
Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Que., is slated to compete in her second-round women’s singles match against Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand on Wednesday. Fernandez claimed victory over Shuai Zhang of China in straight sets on Sunday, while Sawangkaew emerged victorious against Panna Udvardy of Hungary in straight sets.