Felix Auger-Aliassime won the Canadian duel in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday.

The 22-year-old Quebecer defeated compatriot Vasek Pospisil in four sets, including two tiebreakers.

Pospisil, a native of Vernon, British Columbia, won the first set of the match, 6-1, before losing the next two, 7-6(4) and 7-6(3), and the fourth, 6-3 to the sixth-seeded player.

Earlier in the day, Bianca Andreescu and fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov won their first match at the Australian Open, but Rebecca Marino was eliminated.

Andreescu defeated Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4, while Shapovalov beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

It was a return to Melbourne for Andreescu. She missed last year's tournament.

The Ontario native needed only one hour and 41 minutes to defeat the 24-year-old from Prague, who was seeded 25th.

Andreescu won 74% of the points on her first serve, compared to 60% for her opponent. She also managed the only three service breaks of the match.

Shapovalov had to work a little harder and needed two hours and 23 minutes to beat Lajovic.

The 23-year-old from Ontario had 16 aces, but committed seven double faults. Shapovalov, the 20th seed, hammered 52 winners against 39 unforced errors.

For his part, Lajovic, ranked 81st in the world, hit only 17 winners and committed 23 unforced errors. Lajovic won only 68 per cent of the points on his first service ball, compared to 82 per cent for Shapovalov.

Canadian Rebecca Marino was eliminated in the first round of the tournament, losing to Zhu Lin of China in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 16, 2023.