'Ridiculous' call eliminates Felix Auger-Aliassime at Cincinnati Open
Fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez tops Schnaider in straight sets
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament after falling to Great Britain's Jack Draper 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 in a third-round matchup on Friday.
Auger-Aliassime fired 12 aces, but struggled with his serve, chalking up 12 double faults in his second match of the day.
The Montreal native broke Draper in the first set and won 73 per cent of his first service points across the match.
The winning point was a controversial call, after the volley from Draper appeared to ricochet off the court before falling over the net.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime unhappy after 'ridiculous' call on match point:
The umpire ruled that the ball went over the net without hitting the ground and Draper wins the match 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The play could not be reviewed because there's no review available for anything other than line-call challenges.
Auger-Aliassime beat Norway's Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1 in a rain-delayed fourth-round bout earlier on Friday.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime sweeps Ruud to advance to third round:
In women's singles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., handed Russia's Diana Shnaider a 6-1, 6-4 loss in third-round play.
Fernandez came back from down 4-1 in the second set after play was suspended due to rain, breaking on four of her 10 chances while firing seven aces to six double faults.
WATCH | Fernandez beats Schnaider in straight sets:
Alcaraz suffers frustrating loss to Monfils
Carlos Alcaraz repeatedly smashed his racket on the court in a rare show of frustration on Friday, and the four-time Grand Slam winner fell to Gael Monfils 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 at the Cincinnati Open.
In a match that was suspended by rain on Thursday night with the players in a second-set tiebreaker, the 37-year-old Monfils advanced by taking the last two sets from the second-seeded Alcaraz, who called the loss his "worst match."
Alcaraz his behavior during Friday afternoon's loss to Gael Monfils.
During the third set, Alcaraz destroyed his racket by repeatedly smashing it on the court in a rare show of frustration for the four-time Grand Slam winner.
Posting in Spanish on X on Saturday, Alcaraz said his attitude was not correct, and his actions should not have been done on the court. The 21-year-old added that it's difficult to control yourself when your heart rate is high, and he will work to ensure it doesn't happen again.
Alcaraz was playing his first match since earning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics after losing to Novak Djokovic, who also beat him last year in the Cincinnati final.
"I felt like it was the worst match that I've ever played on my career," Alcaraz said Friday. "I've been practicing really well. I was feeling great. But I couldn't play. I want to forget it and try to move on to New York."
The U.S. Open begins in New York on Aug. 26.
Alcaraz was playing his first match since earning a silver medal at the Paris Olympics after losing to Novak Djokovic, who also beat him last year in the Cincinnati final.
Monfils returned to the court later Friday and lost to No. 15 seed Holger Rune 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Top men to advance included No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who got a walkover against Jordan Thompson on his 23rd birthday, No. 3 Alex Zverev, No. 5 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 6 Andrey Rublev and 12th-ranked American Ben Shelton.
Swiatek advances to quarters in women's draw
In women's action, top-ranked Iga Swiatek advanced to the quarterfinals with a convincing 6-2, 6-2 win over Marta Kostyuk.
Swiatek bounced back with a more complete performance after losing a second-set tiebreak on Wednesday before outlasting France's Varvara Gracheva.
No. 3 Aryna Sabalenka also advanced with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Elina Svitolina, but No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, the runner-up at the French Open and Wimbledon, lost to Mirra Andreeva 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova upset No. 7 and Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen 7-5, 6-1. Spaniard Paula Badosa defeated Yulia Putintseva, who upset Coco Gauff on Thursday, 6-4, 6-4.
With files from CBC Sports, The Associated Press
