Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime got his money’s worth again on Monday in Indian Wells, although he defeated Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.
After a hotly contested battle lasting more than two hours, “FAA” triumphed in two sets of 7-5 and 6-4 against the 27th seed.
The Montrealer gave himself a good scare at the end of the duel. Unable to take advantage of two chances to close the books when serving for the match, at 5-3, he was broken by a tireless Cerundolo.
In the end, it took six match points for Auger-Aliassime to settle the case of his 24-year-old rival, who sent a forehand out of bounds.
Despite this victory, “FAA” will certainly want to improve its rate of return in possession of the balls. He was dominant when he started the rally successfully on his first try, but only hit 49% of his first-serve attempts.
He will also want to limit unforced errors in his next match, which will oppose him to the American Tommy Paul. In his first two duels in California, he committed 25 and 28 respectively.
Auger-Aliassime will try to get his ticket to the quarter-finals ー and, who knows, maybe a duel against Carlos Alcaraz ー on Tuesday.
A bad third round for Leylah
In the women’s singles draw, Leylah Fernandez worked hard before collapsing in three sets against Caroline Garcia.
The fifth racket in the world was incisive in the final set to reach the next round by virtue of a victory of 6-4, 6-7 (5) and 6-1, after more than 2:15 of play.
It is already the second time this year that the Frenchwoman eliminates Fernandez by deploying her best assets. In the second round of the Australian Open in January, she won 7-6 (5), 7-5.
The Quebecer gave everything to stay alive during the tiebreaker in the second set of the match of the day. In the next set, she only won 34% of the points.
Dangerous in possession of the balls, with 11 aces and only three double faults, Garcia emerged victorious in 86% of the exchanges she initiated with a successful first serve.
Fernandez’s best result, 49e world player, this year, is a defeat in the quarter-finals at the Auckland tournament.
Garcia will face Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16.
Andreescu battles, but doesn’t make the cut
Later in the evening, Canadian Bianca Andreescu suffered the same fate as Fernandez.
The Ontarian had the heavy task of facing the world number 1, Iga Swiatek. The 21-year-old Polish won in straight sets 6-3, 7-6(1). The match lasted two hours and eight minutes.
Andreescu started the match strongly, taking her rival’s serve in the first game. The winner, however, regained her due at the first opportunity she got. She also broke the representative of the maple leaf in the sixth game, which eventually allowed her to get her hands on the first set.
The two women exchanged three service breaks in the second set and Swiatek opened the game for the tiebreaker.
In the round of 16 in Indian Wells, Swiatek will face Britain’s Emma Raducanu. The 77e player in the world caused the upset by beating the Brazilian and 13e seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia.