Auger-Aliassime avenges recent loss to Germany's Struff, advances to Round 2 at Rotterdam
Canadian to face Bulgaria's Dimitrov; Pospisil plays top seed Medvedev on Wednesday
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second round of the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The 19-year-old from Montreal hit 16 aces in a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over German Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in the world, improved to 1-1 against the 34th-ranked Struff after losing to the German last month at the ATP Cup in Australia.
The Canadian was pleased with how he rebounded after a rough second set Tuesday.
"It was really tough, there was so many emotions running through my head," Auger-Aliassime said. "I felt I had chances in the first game of the second set, with the overheard, and so many chances to make the break. It was really frustrating.
"It led me to lose focus in the second set and get broken twice, which isn't ideal for me or normal. In the third set, it was about forgetting and moving forward. I'm really happy, it's a really good lesson and a great win to come back after losing the set so badly."
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime nails ridiculous shot:
Auger-Aliassime next faces reigning tournament runner-up Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria, who upset No. 8 seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., in the first round.
Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil is the other Canadian in the draw at the ATP Tour 500 event.
Pospisil, coming off a run to the final at an event in France last week, faces top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the first round of the indoor hardcourt tournament on Wednesday.
No. 2 Tsitsipas overcomes slow start
Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas clawed his way back from a set and a break down to beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-1 and reach the last-16.
Tsitsipas reacted well to going 2-0 down in the second set, fighting back strongly to beat Hurkacz, who was celebrating his 23rd birthday.
The Greek big-hitter, who was knocked out in the third round of the Australian Open, has now beaten Hurkacz five times out of six, although this was another close encounter between the pair.
Tsitsipas needed a medical timeout to deal with a shoulder problem after making unforced errors in a poor tiebreak, and Hurkacz quickly stole a march in the second set before Tsitsipas launched his comeback.
The world number six broke to go 3-2 up and went on to take the set in 46 minutes, before dominating in the decisive third.
Elsewhere, Italy's Fabio Fognini was upset 6-3, 6-3 by Russia's Karen Khachanov.
Fognini lost his focus following an argument with the umpire over a call in the second set and the Italian also asked for the trainer's help in strapping up his leg below the knee.
Khachanov sailed through the second set with two breaks of serve and Fognini's unforced error count of 36 only made things easier for the Russian.
With files from Reuters