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Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime rallied to defeat Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
Auger-Aliassime won 81 per cent on first serve and fired 11 aces. He had zero double faults but was able to convert only three of his 10 break-point opportunities.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 35th in the world, fired 11 aces and won 81 per cent of his first serves in a match that lasted two hours and 19 minutes on the clay surface.
The 23-year-old Canadian improved his career record to 3-2 over the 79th-ranked Nishioka.
Auger-Aliassime will face 19th-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France in the second round.
Mannarino won their only previous encounter in the second round of the Cincinnati Masters in 2023.
Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., reached the second round Wednesday after defeating Argentina’s Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Shapovalov is set to face No. 26 seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina.
In the women’s draw, Leylah Fernandez, of Laval, Quebec, was scheduled to face Russian Anastasia Potapova in a second-round match on Thursday.
— With files from Sportsnet