Canada's Raonic upset at Mexican Open while Fernandez, Auger-Aliassime move on
The Canadian Press | Posted: March 17, 2021 12:52 PM | Last Updated: March 18, 2021
Denis Shapovalov advances to quarter-finals at Dubai tournament
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Annie Fernandez had successful outings Wednesday in Mexico. Fellow Canadian Milos Raonic did not.
The 20-year-old Aliassime beat another 20-year-old, American Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the quarter-finals at the Mexican Open.
The Montrealer, seeded seventh in Acapulco, needed one hour 38 minutes to top his 92nd-ranked opponent at the ATP-500 level tournament.
Auger-Aliassime will face either No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece or American John Isner next.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime drops Korda:
The fourth-seeded Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., didn't make it out of the second round, getting upset by his 71st-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany.
The German took the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2 in one hour 12 minutes.
WATCH | Milos Raonic falls to Germany's Dominik Koepfer:
Meanwhile, Fernandez toppled Slovakia's Kristina Kulkova in the round of 16 at the Monterrey Open.
The 18-year-old Fernandez, of Laval, Que., downed Kulkova 6-1, 6-4 in one hour seven minutes to reach the quarters.
Next up for Fernandez at the ATP 250 tournament is Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova.
WATCH | Fernandez gets past Kulkova:
Shapovalov rolling
Earlier, Canada's Denis Shapovalov advanced to the quarter-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships after beating Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-3.
The third-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., won for the first time in three career matches against the 13th-seeded Hurkacz.
Shapovalov won 90 per cent of points (28-of-31) when he got his first serve in and saved the only break point he faced in the third-round match of the ATP Tour 500 event.
"For sure playing some really good tennis," Shapovalov said. "Obviously, I've struggled against Hubert in the past. He's such a great player, he's got great weapons and he's really tough to play against. I'm really happy to get my first win against him."
WATCH | Shapovalov defeats Hurkacz:
The Canadian, who was playing his 200th tour-level match, will face world No. 53 Jeremy Chardy in the quarter-finals after the Frenchman upset No. 8 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4.
Shapovalov has a 2-0 career record against Chardy.
Meanwhile, Andrey Rublev eased into the quarter-finals and qualifier Lloyd Harris continued his run of upsets.
The second-seeded Rublev needed barely an hour to win 6-3, 6-1 against Taylor Fritz. He next faces a rematch against Marton Fucsovics, the player he beat in the Rotterdam final earlier this month.
Fucsovics won 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 against 11th-seeded Dusan Lajovic. The Hungarian has gone to three sets in all three matches in Dubai this week.
Harris won 7-6 (5), 6-4 against 14th-seeded Filip Krajinovic to follow his upset win over top-seeded Dominic Thiem on Wednesday. The South African qualifier was down 4-2 in the tiebreaker before winning five of the following six points, and broke Krajinovic at 3-3 in the second. Harris will face Kei Nishikori, who beat Aljaz Bedene 6-4, 6-4.
Aslan Karatsev continued his strong start to 2021 by beating Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The Russian was a surprise Australian Open semifinalist as a qualifier last month and will now face another Italian, Jannik Sinner. Sinner upset fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.