(Miami) Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated in the third round of the Miami Tennis Open on Monday, losing 6-2, 7-5 to Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. But her harrowing day at the office doesn’t compare to that of fellow Canadian Bianca Andreescu, who seriously injured her left ankle.
Ranked 25e in the world, Cerundolo made a crucial break in the 11e game of the second set to take a 6-5 lead. He achieved this by winning four points in a row after the Montrealer took a 40-15 lead in the game.
The Argentine took advantage of his chances, breaking Auger-Aliassime four times in six chances.
The Montrealer only got two break chances and capitalized on his first opportunity, in the eighth game of the second set to come back on even serve, at 4-4.
As Cerundolo served for the match, Auger-Aliassime was offered a second break chance, but he failed to exploit it.
Four points later, Cerundolo was able to confirm his victory, on his third match point, when Auger-Aliassime sent a forehand beyond the baseline.
Auger-Aliassime saw his streak of six straight Masters 1000 quarter-finals come to an end.
PHOTO GEOFF BURKE, USA TODAY SPORTS
Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo
Moreover, it was the third duel between the two players in their career. They all took place in 2023 and Auger-Aliassime had won the first two, first at the Australian Open in January, then two weeks ago in Indian Wells.
Semi-finalist last year in Miami, Cerundolo said he was nourished by the energy released by the spectators.
“Super happy to have won another game against a top 10 player, another important win for me,” he said.
“I think I played really well from start to finish. It’s great fun to play here. Lots of Argentinians, people of Latin origin. […] Last year had been extraordinary. I’m really excited to be in the round of 16 again and to try to keep winning. »
In the next round, Cerundolo will face Italian Lorenzo Sonego who beat American Frances Tiafoe, 12e seeded, 6-3, 6-4.
Andreescu gets injured
In the evening, Ontario’s Bianca Andreescu had to withdraw from her fourth-round match against Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova, 18e seeded, due to a left ankle injury while leading 2-0 in the second set.
On the footage, Andreescu fell and screamed in pain, hitting the ground in frustration. In a hard-to-watch scene, a distressed Andreescu exclaimed that she had “never felt such pain”. The Canadian, who has overcome injury after injury in recent years, exclaimed “Not yet”, before hugging her opponent and leaving the field in a wheelchair, surrounded by therapists. Andreescu cast a furtive glance at his family as he left the court, eyes watering.
Andreescu, whose match started 40 minutes later than expected and was delayed by rain for around two hours as she led 3-2 in the first set, lost that first set 7-6 in 57 minutes, without score a single point on the break.
In the first set, Andreescu took a 2-0 lead thanks to a break in the second game. She lost her advantage in the next game when she let slip a 40-15 lead on her serve.
In women’s doubles, Laval’s Leylah Fernandez and her American partner Taylor Townsend qualified for the quarter-finals with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over Giuliana Olmos and Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Fernandez and Townsend served six aces and won 64% of first-serve points contested, in a match that lasted one hour 33 minutes.
Fernandez and Townsend will face third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok on Tuesday.