Leylah Fernandez, Bianca Andreescu through to quarterfinals at Toray Pan Pacific Open
Fellow Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime begins Swiss Indoors title defence with win
Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu have both moved on to the quarterfinals at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.
Fernandez advanced after downing Varvara Gracheva 6-0, 3-6, 7-5 on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., fired three aces and converted 5-of-11 break points during the two-hour 15-minute match.
WATCH | Fernandez scores 3-set win in Tokyo:
Gracheva, of France, battled back in the second set, winning 72.2 per cent of her first-serve points, before Fernandez rallied in the third set.
Andreescu, from Mississauga, Ont., advanced after Beatriz Haddad Maia retired due to a back injury while trailing 3-0 in the first set. Haddad Maia, the No. 2 seed, appeared to be in pain from the second game onward and took a medical timeout before exiting the match.
WATCH | Andreescu walks into the Pan Pacific Open quarters:
In the quarterfinals, Fernandez takes on the winner of a matchup between the tournament's top seed, Qinwen Zheng of China, and Japan's Moyuka Uchijima, while Andreescu faces either Katie Boulter or Kyoka Okamura.
In women's doubles action, Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski and her partner Erin Routliffe were up 6-3, 1-2 on Japanese pair Nao Hibino and Miyu Kato when their match was suspended.
Auger-Aliassime unbeaten against Baez
Two-time defending champion Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the second round of the Swiss Indoors tennis tournament with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Argentina's Sebastian Baez on Wednesday in Basel, Switzerland.
Auger-Aliassime took a tightly contested first set with a break in the 12th game when Baez hit Auger-Aliassime's service return long.
The 24-year-old from Montreal then dominated the second set, breaking Baez early to take a 2-0 lead and again in the sixth game to serve for the match.
He finished Baez off with his eighth ace of the match.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime prevails in straight sets in Switzerland:
Auger-Aliassime improved to 2-0 against Baez, who is ranked 26th in the world, following up on a straight-sets win in September as Canada cruised to a Davis Cup group stage win over Argentina
Auger-Aliassime, seeded eighth in Basel and ranked 19th in the world, will next face No. 50 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France.
The Canadian was a wild card at last year's Swiss Indoors tournament and advanced to beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the final. He won the 2022 final against Denmark's Holger Rune for his fourth tournament victory of the year.
Djokovic won't defend Paris Masters title
Defending champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the Paris Masters, organizers said Wednesday.
The 37-year-old Djokovic played at the Six Kings Slam exhibition last week. Organizers did not give a reason for Djokovic's withdrawal.
The former top-ranked player said in an Instagram post he is "sorry to everyone who was hoping to see me play there."
"I have a lot of great memories winning seven titles there and hope to be back with you next year," he added.
Djokovic has won a record seven titles at the Paris indoor tournament. His decision not to play could jeopardize his chances to qualify for the year-end ATP Finals featuring the top eight players in the race.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion currently holds the sixth spot in the race. Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev have already secured their spot at the season's final event from Nov. 10-17.
The Paris Masters starts next week.
With files from The Associated Press
