Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov took diametrically opposite roads on Wednesday at the Western & Southern Tennis Open, but that did not prevent them from reaching the same stage at this Masters 1000 tournament.
As a curtain raiser, Auger-Aliassime was expeditious, eliminating Australian Alex de Minaur in two sets of 6-3, 6-2, in a second round match.
Auger-Aliassime, who is returning from a quarter-final appearance at the National Bank Open, took only 78 minutes to defeat de Minaur and advance to the third round of this tournament played in the suburbs of Cincinnati.
The 22-year-old Montrealer had nine aces during his duel against the Australian and won 82 percent of his points on the first serve. He broke his opponent four times, including three in the second set.
Auger-Aliassime, seeded seventh in the tournament, will cross swords with Italian Jannik Sinner (no 10), who advanced to the next round when Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic abdicated when Sinner led 7-5 and 3- 1.
Auger-Aliassime won the only game between the two players, 6-1, 6-2 at the Madrid Masters last May on clay.
As for Shapovalov, he seemed destined to deliver another disappointing performance until he emerged from his torpor midway through the second set and eventually knocked out American Tommy Paul 3-6, 6-4, 6- 3 after two hours eight minutes of rollercoaster action.
Paul had given himself a 4-1 lead in the second set with his second break of the second set, and his fourth of the matchup, when the tide turned completely.
From there, Shapovalov won eight games in a row, half of them serving Paul. This irresistible push allowed him, first, to win the second set, then, to give himself a 3-0 lead in the decisive set.
Shapovalov won despite committing 10 double faults, seven more than his opponent. Both players scored three aces.
In the round of 16, Shapovalov will face world number one Daniil Medvedev. This will be the fifth duel between the two players. The Canadian won the first two in straight sets, in 2017 and 2018, including the first at the US Open.
Medvedev won the other two in straight sets, including the last, at the 2021 Laver Cup in Boston. All of their matches have been played on hard courts.