Four Canadians reach second round of 2025 Australian Open

Denis Shapovalov (Si. Robi, Wikimedia Commons)

The first round of the 2024 Australian Open is officially complete and four Canadians are in round two. They are Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Quebec, Gabriel Diallo of Montreal, Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, and Denis Shapovalov of Toronto, Ontario.

Fernandez defeated Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday. The 2021 United States Open finalist who is seeded 30th in Melbourne, broke Starodubtseva five times. Next up for Fernandez is Cristina Bucsa of Spain. Fernandez won their only prior meeting, 7-6, 6-3, in the second round of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Auger-Aliassime defeated Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 on Monday. Auger-Aliassime was the better server, as he had 19 aces and one double fault, compared to 15 aces and four double faults for Struff. Auger-Aliassime also broke Struff eight times and won 85% of points on his first serve. In the second round, Auger-Aliassime, the 29th seed. and 2021 United States Open semifinalist, will play Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain. Auger-Aliassime has won all three prior meetings (7-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 in the second round at the 2022 Australian Open,  4-6, 7-6, 6-2 in the second round of the 2022 Italian Open, and 6-4, 7-6 in the quarterfinals of Doha in 2023).

Diallo defeated Luca Nardi of Italy, 6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2 on Monday evening in Canada, Tuesday in Melbourne. This was a minor upset as Diallo is ranked 86th and Nardi is ranked 83rd. Diallo was the better server. He had 21 aces and eight double faults, compared to nine aces and 13 double faults for Nardi. Diallo also broke Nardi seven times. Next up for Diallo, is the 19th seed, Karen Khachanov of Russia. Khachanov reached the semifinals of the United States Open in 2022, and the Australian Open in 2023.

Shapovalov, the 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist, beat Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, the 2019 Wimbledon semifinalist, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 on Tuesday. This was a minor upset too as Shapovalov is ranked 56th and Bautista Agut is ranked 53rd. Shapovalov had 24 aces compared to two for Bautista Agut. Next up for Shapovalov is Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, the 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist.

 

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