Photo : Mathieu Belanger/Tennis Canada
A perfect opening day continued for the Canadian contingent at the U.S. Open on Monday as Félix Auger-Aliassime and Rebecca Marino joined Bianca Andreescu in the second round at the final Grand Slam event of the tennis season in Flushing Meadows, New York.
Seeded sixth in the men’s draw, Auger-Aliassime needed four sets to defeat Swiss qualifier Antoine Ritschard 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in his opening match. The reigning U.S. Open semifinalist made the most of one service break in each of the first two sets and two in the fourth frame to get the better of his talented opponent. He hit 38 winners, including 13 aces in the match.
The 22-year-old will now meet Great Britain’s Jack Draper, a player on the rise who is enjoying a strong North American summer hard court season, in round two.
Marino Scores Long-Awaited New York Victory
For her part, Marino secured an impressive 6-2, 6-3 triumph over world no. 103 Magdalena Frech of Poland. It was the Vancouver resident’s first main draw win at the U.S. Open in twelve years when she earned the right to face Venus Williams in round two at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2010.
After leading from start to finish in the third set, the 31-year-old erased an early break deficit in the second frame to close out the match in straights. She will next take on Daria Snigur of Ukraine who posted by far the biggest upset of the tournament so far by knocking out National Bank Open presented by Rogers champion Simona Halep in three sets in the opening round.
Last year’s U.S. Open finalist Leylah Annie Fernandez will attempt to make it four Canadians in round two when she plays Oceane Dodin of France later tonight at Louis Armstrong Stadium. You can watch the match on TSN and RDS.
