Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime marked his successful comeback at the Cincinnati Open by defeating Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas with a score of 6-3, 7-5 in the second round on Sunday. Auger-Aliassime, seeded second in the tournament, encountered challenges with the wind during the match, particularly in the second set where he struggled to close out the game at 5-4. Despite this setback, the 26-year-old managed to break back in the following game and secured victory by serving his seventh ace on match point.
Reflecting on the match, Auger-Aliassime mentioned the adverse weather conditions, stating that the wind affected his serving power. He acknowledged the difficulties faced towards the end of the game but expressed satisfaction with his performance, considering it his first match in 40 days after a health-related break following Wimbledon.
Auger-Aliassime’s victory over Tsitsipas marked only his fourth win out of 11 encounters against the Greek player. Up next, the Canadian will face Juan Cerundolo of Argentina, who caused an upset by defeating the 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech of France on Sunday.
In the women’s event, qualifier Xiyu Wang from China outplayed 30th-seeded Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Quebec, with a score of 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a match lasting two hours and two minutes. Wang, aged 25 and previously ranked 49th in the world, started slow but gained momentum in the second set and maintained her dominance throughout. Fernandez, who recently reached the round of 16 at the National Bank Open in Toronto, struggled to match Wang’s performance, with fewer winners and more unforced errors and double faults.
During the match, Fernandez faced challenges in both her return and service games, winning only three out of 12 return games and seven out of 12 service games. In contrast, Wang demonstrated a stronger performance, winning five out of 12 return games and nine out of 12 service games.