Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime advocated patience before overcoming Adam Walton 7-5, 6-4 in the first round of the Miami Tennis Open on Thursday.
It was the first career match on the ATP tour between Auger-Aliassime, 36th in the world, and Walton, 134th. The Canadian defeated his opponent after two hours on the Florida cement.
Auger-Aliassime has therefore not lost his last six matches against players excluded from the world top-100. For his part, Walton, a 24-year-old player from qualifying, was playing his first career match in a Masters 1000 series tournament.
Auger-Aliassime will meet in the second round with German Alexander Zverev, fourth seed in the tournament.
The 23-year-old tennis player fired 11 aces, compared to just two for Walton. However, he committed four double faults, while his opponent only produced one. Auger-Aliassime also converted two of his four break points, while the Australian was unable to steal his serve on five occasions.
In addition, the representative of the maple leaf slammed an impressive total of 31 winning shots, compared to 11 for his rival, except that he committed 17 unforced errors, compared to Walton’s eight.
The match, however, started on a false note. The Quebecer had to retreat to the locker room after only 18 minutes of play due to an interruption caused by rain, while the score was 1-0 in favor of Walton. Auger-Aliassime was serving, at 15-15.
After a break of around 15 minutes, hostilities resumed and the two tennis players played cautiously, as if they were studying each other. They each held their serve until Auger-Aliassime managed to break his opponent in the 11th game to take the lead 6-5. He then served for the set, winning it with an ace after an hour and 17 minutes of play.
The same scenario happened again in the second round, minus the rain. The two tennis players were content to play from the back of the court, each of them maintaining their serve until the Quebecer converted his first break point of the set, to take a 5-4 lead.
Auger-Aliassime then relied on his explosive serve to take a 40-0 lead, before sealing the outcome of the match with a winning shot.
Elsewhere, Ontario’s Gabriela Dabrowski and her New Zealand playing partner Erin Routliffe will face Norwegian Ulrikke Eikeri and China’s Hanyu Guo in the first round of the women’s doubles tournament later today.
For her part, Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez, who obtained a bye for the second round, will begin her tournament on Friday. She will face Colombian Emiliana Arango (number 123), who easily disposed of German Tatjana Maria (number 48) 6-2, 6-3 in the first round on Wednesday.