Canadian Milos Raonic through to 2nd round of Mexican Open

Canadian Milos Raonic is heading to the second round in Acapulco.

The fourth-seeded Raonic toppled American Tommy Paul 7-6 (6), 6-4 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Mexican Open.

The Thornhill, Ont., product needed one hour 49 minutes to take the match against his 51st-ranked opponent at the ATP-500 level tournament.

Raonic was slow to start and never really found any type of rhythm. He doubled faulted 10 times, but also finished with 13 aces to get past Paul.

Next up for Raonic is 71st-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany.

WATCH | Raonic earns opening round victory over Paul in straight sets:

Milos Raonic advances to round of 16 at Mexican Open

4 years ago

Duration 1:53

Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., defeats American Tommy Paul 7-6(6), 6-4 in their opening round match of the Mexican Open.

Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., had her time at the Monterrey Open in Mexico cut short.

Bouchard was ousted by China's Zhu Lin 7-5, 7-6(3) in the first round.

WATCH | Bouchard ousted in 1st round in Monterrey:

Eugenie Bouchard suffers 1st round loss at Monterrey Open

4 years ago

Duration 1:15

Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., falls to China's Zhu Lin 7-5, 7-6(3) in opening round of Monterrey Open.

The Canadian was hoping to ride her recent momentum after jumping from 144th to 116th in the world rankings by reaching the finals last week at the Guadalajara Open — another WTA 250-level tournament.

Shapovalov advances in Dubai

Fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov defeated German Jan-Lennard Struff 6-1, 6-3 to advance in the Dubai tennis championship.  

The third-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., won 85 per cent of his first-serve points and saved both break points he faced.

Struff, ranked 39th in the world, has been a nemesis for Shapovalov in recent years. The German had won their previous four matches and leads the lifetime series 4-2.

WATCH | Shapovalov advances to meet 13th-seeded Hurcasz:

Shapovalov sails into the Dubai Tennis Championships round of 16

4 years ago

Duration 3:24

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., beat Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 in the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.

"For sure, I knew it was going to be a tough match for me," Shapovalov said. "I feel like any match is a new match. It's always starting from 0-0. The past really doesn't mean much."

Shapovalov, who got a first-round bye, will face No. 13 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the third round. Hurkacz beat Richard Gasquet of France 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday at the ATP Tour 500 event.

Hurkacz has a 2-0 career record against Shapovalov.

"He's definitely a very difficult player," Shapovalov said. "We know each other from way, way back. I think we played junior Australian Open first round the first time."