Felix Auger Aliassime, of Canada, returns a volley against Thiago Monteiro, of Brazil, in the first set of a match at the Miami Open tennis tournament in Miami Gardens, Fla., Saturday, March 25, 2023. Auger-Aliassime is out of the Miami Open after being upset 6-2, 7-5 in a third-round match with Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jim Rassol
MIAMI – Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Miami Open after being upset 6-2, 7-5 in a third-round match with Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.
Cerundolo, ranked 25th in Miami, scored a crucial break over fifth-seed Auger-Aliassime to go up 6-5 in the second set before serving out for the match.
The Argentine made the most of his opportunities, breaking Auger-Aliassime four times on six chances. He faced only two break points, saving one.
Auger-Aliassime saw his streak of six straight quarterfinals at Masters 1000 events come to an end.
It was the third high-profile third-round meeting between the players, with Auger-Aliassime winning at Indian Wells and the Australian Open.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to play a women’s third-round match against 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia later Monday.
In women’s doubles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and American partner Taylor Townsend advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over seventh seeds Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
Fernandez and Townsend combined to fire six aces and win 64 per cent of first serve points in a match that took one hour 33 minutes to complete.
Olmos and Haddad Maia scored three of their four breaks and defended 10 of 13 break-point chances in a back-and-forth second set that ended with Haddad Maia hitting long facing match point.
Fernandez and Townsend will face third seeds Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.
