TORONTO, Canada: Home hopes were dashed on Wednesday at the ATP Toronto Masters as Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime exited in the second round.
Fifth-seeded Shapovalov became the highest-ranked seed to actually lose a match — number two Rafael Nadal withdrew before playing — as he fell 6-1, 6-4 to good friend Frances Tiafoe.
Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic defeated Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-4.
“I didn’t feel like the conditions were easy, a little bit windy and the ball flying a bit off my racquet,” Auger-Aliassime said.
“Every day conditions in tennis are a little bit different, you’ve got to try to adapt to them. I thought I served well, but the margins were pretty small.
“I just have to accept the situation, there’s nothing more to do right now.”
Shapovalov was buried by American Tiafoe, a lucky loser from qualifying who had lost four previous matches against his northern rival.
“That was a big one,” Tiafoe said. “After he beat me so much, I had to stop the bleeding.
“I needed to win this one, to set the tone, not let him run the table on me.”
Shapovalov has now dropped three matches in a row, at Wimbledon and last month in the Swiss alpine village of Gstaad where he was top seed.
The Canadian threw in nine double-faults, producing a total of 30 unforced errors in defeat.
“It was not an ideal performance, I’m not happy,” Shapovalov said.
“I felt uncomfortable today against a guy with a few matches under his belt.
“I tried a lot of things but he was way more comfortable: you could see it was my first match and he’s been here and playing already.” — AFP
Second round
James Duckworth (AUS) bt Jannik Sinner (ITA x16) 6-3, 6-4; Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO) bt Alex De Minaur (AUS x12) 6-1, 6-1; Hubert Hurkacz (POL x7) bt Kei Nishikori (JPN) walkover; Andrey Rublev (RUS x4) bt Fabio Fognini (ITA) 7-6 (7/4), 6-3; John Isner (USA) bt Christian Garin (CHI x13) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4; Gael Monfils (FRA x11) bt John Millman (AUS) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4; Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Denis Shapovalov (CAN x5) 6-1, 6-4; Dusan Lajovic (SRB) bt Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN x9) 7-5, 6-4; Karen Khachanov (RUS) bt Aslan Karatsev (RUS x15) 7-6 (9/7), 6-4; Diego Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt Benoit Paire (FRA) 7-5, 6-1; Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x10) bt Tommy Paul (USA) 6-3, 6-4; Lloyd Harris (RSA) bt Feliciano Lopez (ESP) 6-2, 6-3
ATP Toronto results
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