Félix Auger-Aliassime won the Canadian duel on Monday in the first round of the Australian Open tennis tournament.
The 22-year-old Quebecer defeated his compatriot Vasek Pospisil in four sets, including two in a tiebreaker.
Pospisil, from Vernon, British Columbia, won the first set of the duel, 6-1, before losing the next two, 7-6 (4) and 7-6 (3) and the fourth, 6-3 at the hands of the sixth seed of the tournament.
Earlier in the day, Bianca Andreescu and fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov won their Australian Open opener, but Rebecca Marino was eliminated.
Andreescu defeated Czech Marie Bouzkova 6-2, 6-4, while Shapovalov overcame 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 Ontarian needed just an hour and 41 minutes to overcome the 24-year-old from Prague, who was 25e first in the series.
Andreescu won 74% of the points on his first serve, compared to 60% for his opponent. She also had the game’s only three service breaks.
Shapovalov had to work a little harder and needed two hours and 23 minutes to beat Lajovic.
The 23-year-old Ontarian had 16 aces but committed seven double faults. Shapovalov, 20e seeded, hammered 52 winners against 39 unforced errors.
For his part, Lajovic, 81e world racket, he managed only 17 winners and committed 23 unforced errors. Lajovic won just 68% of the points contested on his first serve, against 82% for Shapovalov.
Canada’s Rebecca Marino was eliminated in the first round of the tournament, losing to China’s Zhu Lin in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.