ADELAIDE — Seeded fifth and heavily favoured to win, Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada had to dig deep on Tuesday to avoid another ATP Tour upset.
Auger-Aliassime dropped his first set of the best-of-three Great Ocean Road Open match 6-1 in 34 minutes, but the Montreal athlete regrouped and then beat Arthur Cazaux of France 6-4, 7-5 to advance to the Adelaide quarterfinals.
On a nearby court, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was bounced 7-5, 6-2 in his round of 16 Adelaide International match by Californian Marcos Giron in 75 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime started slowly in the round of 16 showdown and that accounted for many of his 58 unforced errors in the two-hour, 31-minute match.
The Canadian finished with a 27-13 advantage in aces, but led 5-3 in double faults.
Auger-Aliassime won two of nine break points, while Cazaux won two of six. The Canadian enjoyed an advantage in win percentage on first serve (72-70) and in receiving points won (38-30).
Shapovalov had nine aces compared to Giron's two, but the Canadian had 13 double faults and his American rival had none. Shapovalov also had 49 unforced errors while Giron had 16.
Giron scored 32 points while receiving compared to Shapovalov's 15. Giron won 80 per cent of his service games compared to 50 per cent for his rival.
Giron will face Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2025.
The Canadian Press
