Felix Auger-Aliassime suffers straight-set defeat at Murray River Open final
Montrealer's wait for 1st career title continues as Daniel Evans takes Aussie Open tune up
Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Great Britain's Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3 in the Murray River Open final Sunday.
Auger-Aliassime, the third-ranked player at the tournament, was searching for his first ATP title in seven appearances in tournament finals. However, 32 unforced errors and four double faults doomed the 20-year-old Montreal native in the loss.
Canadians are now 0-for-8 in their last ATP tournament finals since Denis Shapovalov won in Stockholm back in 2019.
Evans, 30, won his first title in three tries. Evans was a finalist at the 2017 Sydney International tournament in Australia and the 2019 Delray Beach Open in the United States.
WATCH | Felix Auger-Aliassime denied 1st career title at Murray River Open:
The Murray River Open served as a tune-up before the Australian Open, which begins Monday (Sunday night Eastern Time).
Auger-Aliassime will play German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in his first match of the major tournament Monday, hoping to improve on his first-round exit in last year's event.
Barty wins Yarra Valley Classic
Top-ranked Ash Barty cashed in on her first championship point in the Yarra Valley Classic and Daniil Medvedev clinched the ATP Cup title for Russia within seconds of each other Sunday as the six tuneup tournaments for he Australian Open started to culminate on the eve of the year's first major.
After a hectic preparation, which included 14-day quarantines under strict COVID-19 pandemic regulations for all players, coaches and staff flying in the for the Australian Open, the warmup week was being capped with five finals and two semifinals.
Ash Barty claims 2nd WTA title on home soil:
Top-ranked Barty claimed her second WTA on home soil with a 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over sixth-seeded Garbine Muguruza, the Australian Open runner-up last year.
There were small clusters of spectators at Margaret Court Arena to watch Barty's match. Still, that's more of a crowd than most players have been accustomed to for their matches during the pandemic. On Monday, when the Australian Open starts, there's expected to be up to 30,000 fans at Melbourne Park.
Mertens wins Gippsland
Elise Mertens beat Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-1 to win the Gippsland Trophy title, her sixth tour title and second at the WTA 500 level.
The 25-year-old Belgian has won 27 matches since the tour restarted in August, more than any other player on the women's circuit in that time.
WATCH | Mertens claims Gippsland:
She got a walkover into the final when U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka withdrew from their semifinal match on Saturday because of a minor shoulder injury.
Russia wins ATP Cup
At Rod Laver Arena, No. 4-ranked Daniil Medvedev secured Russia's 2-0 win over Italy in the ATP Cup final when he beat Matteo Berrettini 6-4, 6-2.
Medvedev defeats Italy's Berrettinito to seal Russia's ATP Cup win:
Andrey Rublev had given Russia a commanding start with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini.
Russia didn't lose a singles match during the group stage or the playoffs, and is the second team to win the ATP Cup after Novak Djokovic led Serbia to the inaugural title last year.
With files from the Associated Press
