Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, returns to Pedro Martinez, of Spain, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Saturday, March 11, 2023, in Indian Wells, Calif. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Mark J. Terrill
ROME – Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has been ousted from the Italian Open after dropping a second-round match 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to Australian Alexei Popyrin on Friday.
Auger-Aliassime had a bye in the first round of the clay-court tournament, while Popyrin defeated his compatriot Christopher O’Connell after coming through the qualifying rounds.
Popyrin, ranked 77th in the world, continued his momentum by upsetting No. 10 Auger-Aliassime in an exhausting three hour 17-minute battle.
Auger-Aliassime struggled with his serve, landing his first service only 61 per cent of the time. He also committed nine double faults and gave his opponent 16 break point opportunities, of which Popyrin converted three.
Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., was scheduled to face Czechia’s Marketa Vondrousova later Friday in Rome.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 12, 2023.
