Canada's Auger-Aliassime, Fernandez into second round at Cincinnati Open
After disappointing showings at their national championships, Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Fernandez rebounded with first-round wins Wednesday at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament.
Montreal's Auger-Aliassime cruised into the second round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Fernandez, form Laval, Que., was down a set and behind an early break before rebounding to beat China's Yuan Yue 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Both players stumbled in singles competition at last week's National Bank Open tournaments in Montreal and Toronto after returning to North America from the Paris Olympics.
Auger-Aliassime lost 6-3, 6-2 to Italy's Flavio Cobolli in the first round of the Montreal tournament. Fernandez made it to the second round in Toronto before being defeated 6-4, 6-2 by American qualifier Ashlyn Krueger.
That followed an eventful Paris Olympics for both players, particularly Auger-Aliassime. The 24-year-old won mixed-doubles bronze with Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski while also advancing to the bronze-medal match of the men's singles competition before losing a tough three-set match to Italy's Lorenzo Musetti.
Fernandez advanced to the third round of the women's singles tournament in Paris.
On Wednesday, Auger-Aliassime picked up his fifth break of Kovacevic to go up 5-1 in the second set then served out for the win by converting his first match point.
Auger-Aliassime will next face Norway's Casper Ruud in the second round of the tournament, which is a Masters event on the ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 event on the women's tour.
The two last faced each other in the men's singles quarterfinals at the Olympics, with Auger-Aliassime winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
Fernandez came back with a solid third set against Yuan in which she converted 14-of-21 first-serve points, including two aces, and scored a pair of breaks.
She will next face fourth seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. It will be the first meeting between the players.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Aug. 14, 2024
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard found not guilty of sexual assault
Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has been found not guilty of sexually assaulting a young woman in northeastern Ontario eight years ago. The former Hedley frontman had pleaded not guilty to sexual assault.
Police arrest Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides
Police have arrested a Toronto woman in connection with three recent homicides and investigators say that they believe two of the victims may have been 'randomly targeted.'
Missing B.C. climber died from fall on Mount Baker, medical examiner says
The body of a British Columbia mountain climber has been located and recovered after the 39-year-old man was reported missing during a solo climb on Washington state's Mount Baker earlier this week.
Following child's death in Ontario, here's what you need to know about rabies and bats
An Ontario child died last month after coming into contact with a rabid bat in their bedroom, which was the first known human rabies case in Canada since 2019.
A French judge in a shocking rape case allows the public to see some of the video evidence
A French judge in the trial of dozens of men accused of raping an unconscious woman whose now former husband had repeatedly drugged her so that he and others could assault her decided on Friday to allow the public to see some of the video recordings of the alleged rapes.
Former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters sentenced to 9 years for voting data scheme
A judge ripped into a Colorado county clerk for her crimes and lies before sentencing her Thursday to nine years behind bars for a data-breach scheme spawned from the rampant false claims about voting machine fraud in the 2020 presidential race.
Anne Hathaway confirms 'Princess Diaries 3': 'Miracles happen'
You might be thinking, 'Shut up!' but it’s officially true: the 'Princess Diaries' franchise is finally growing.
Youth pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of P.E.I. teen Tyson MacDonald
A teen charged with the murder of another teen on Prince Edward Island last year has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter.
Sask. man pleads guilty in U.S. after unknowingly providing videos of men raping toddlers to FBI agent
A Saskatchewan man living in the United States has pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography after he unknowingly provided disturbing videos to an FBI agent he thought was a pedophile.