Canada's Auger-Aliassime snaps 5-match losing streak at Cincinnati Open
Montreal native tops Italy's Matteo Berrettini in 3 sets to reach 2nd round
Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime ended a five-match losing streak with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over Italy's Matteo Berrettini on Monday in first-round action at the Cincinnati Masters.
The 23-year-old from Montreal served to love in the final game, going up 30-love with his ninth ace of the match and winning a seven-shot rally on his first match point.
After a breakout season that saw him win four tournaments, lead Canada to a Davis Cup title and reach a career-high ranking of sixth on the ATP Tour, Auger-Aliassime has had a difficult 2023 campaign.
He entered Cincinnati with a 13-13 record on the season and saw his world ranking dip to No. 14. His five match-losing streak came against opponents ranked between No. 78 and No. 130.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime beats Berrettini:
But he rallied to win a tough first-round matchup against Berrettini, who entered the match with a 4-1 career edge in head-to-head matchups against the Canadian.
Berrettini is ranked 38th in the world, but like Auger-Aliassime reached No. 6 last year.
After dropping the first set, Auger-Aliassime dominated the second with breaks in the fourth and eighth games.
Auger-Aliassime took a crucial break to go up 4-2 in the third set when Berrettini hit into a double fault on break point.
Auger-Aliassime will next face French veteran Adrian Mannarino in the first career meeting between the players.
Venus Williams scores marquee win
In the women's tournament, Venus Williams beat a top-20 player for the first time in four years, rallying from big deficits in both sets to knock off 16th-ranked Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 7-5 in her first-round match.
The 43-year-old Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam champion, improved her match record this year to 3-5. She came in ranked 533rd.
Williams trailed 4-1 in each set but fought back each time, converting six of nine break points in the match. She also endured two rain delays.
"I just kept telling myself, 'I just want to win this point — not the match, just one point,"' the 43-year-old Williams said. "When you break things down like that, big problems become small problems. That's how I did that."
Williams had lost her last 10 matches against top-20 players since beating then-No. 5 Kiki Bertens in 2019 at Cincinnati.
Another American veteran, 2017 U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens, beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto 7-5, 6-2. The start of the match was delayed 2 hours, 44 minutes.
The 30-year-old Stephens will face defending champion and No. 6 seed Caroline Garcia in the second round.
With files from The Associated Press
