(Mason) Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Friday, winning 6-3, 6-1 against Norwegian Casper Ruud, the seventh seed.
Ranked 19e in the world, the Canadian prevailed in 67 minutes, notably by scoring the 14 aces of the match.
Auger-Aliassime dominated 5-1 for breaks, in addition to obtaining 86% of the points played on his first serves.
FAA leads their matches 4-3 including a quarterfinal win at the Olympics this year.
His next rival will be Jack Draper – starting Friday night. The match between the Quebecer and Ruud was supposed to take place Thursday night, but it had to be postponed because of the rain.
In the second round, Englishman Draper caused a surprise by beating ninth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Draper is ranked 28e to the ATP.
In the ladies’ category, Quebecer Leylah Fernandez, 26e at the WTA, will play later Friday against the Russian Diana Shnaider, 20e to the world.
Gaël Monfils causes surprise
Frenchman Gaël Monfils caused a major surprise by beating Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The duel began on Thursday evening, but was interrupted by rain with the second seed leading 6-4, 6-6 (1/3).
Monfils, 37, came out strong Friday to win the tiebreaker 7-5 and was more consistent than his opponent in the third set.
It is Monfils’ first victory in more than two years against a player ranked in the top three in the world.
Monfils will also play again on Friday evening, in his case against the Dane Holger Rune, 16e to the world.