The Quebecers made a successful debut at the Madrid Tennis Open on Thursday.
Félix Auger-Aliassime came from behind to dispose of Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4 in the first round, while his compatriot Leylah Annie Fernandez booked her ticket to the third round a few hours later.
The 23-year-old Quebecer sealed the outcome of the match after two hours and 19 minutes of play on the Madrid clay of the Manolo Santana stadium. Auger-Aliassime, 35e world player, now has a career record of 3-2 against the Japanese, 78e world racket.
Auger-Aliassime will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 19, in the next rounde top seed of the tournament. Mannarino won the only previous duel between them, in the second round of the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
Auger-Aliassime demonstrated his superiority in terms of power against Nishioka, dominating his opponent 11-2 in terms of aces. He was also much more efficient than the Japanese with his first serve ball, winning 81% of the points in this phase of play.
The representative of the maple leaf was also slightly more opportunistic than Nishioka in important moments; he converted three of his 10 break points. For his part, the 28-year-old Japanese converted his only break point of the match.
In addition, Auger-Aliassime hit 32 winners, compared to 15 for his rival, and Nishioka committed five more unforced errors than the Canadian (23-18).
Among the women, Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez, 32e seeded, signed a quick victory of 7-5, 6-3 against the Russian Anastasia Potapova at the end of the program. She will face in the third round the eighth seed, Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who defeated Slovak Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4, 5-7 and 6-3.
Jabeur, a three-time Grand Slam finalist, is 2-0 in his career against Fernandez. She defeated the 21-year-old Quebecer in the second round of the grass tournament in Birmingham, England, in 2021, and in the first round of the Cincinnati Open, in 2020.