Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime marked his comeback to the court with a solid 6-3, 7-5 victory against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Cincinnati Open’s second round on Sunday. Auger-Aliassime, the second seed at the prestigious event, encountered challenges with the wind during the second set and missed the opportunity to close out the match when leading 5-4. However, he managed to break back in the following game and clinched the win with his seventh ace on match point.
Reflecting on the match, Auger-Aliassime mentioned the difficult windy conditions stating, “It got really windy… I felt like I had no power in my serve.” Despite the tricky ending, the 26-year-old expressed his satisfaction with the victory, especially after a 40-day break from competition since Wimbledon.
Auger-Aliassime’s win over Tsitsipas was only his fourth in 11 encounters against the Greek player. Up next, the Canadian will face Juan Cerundolo of Argentina, who caused an upset by defeating 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech of France in a close match.
In the women’s event, qualifier Xiyu Wang from China overcame 30th-seeded Leylah Fernandez from Laval, Quebec, with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 scoreline. Wang, a former World No. 49, started slow but picked up momentum in the second set to secure the win. Fernandez, who reached the round of 16 at the National Bank Open in Toronto, struggled with her game, winning only three of 12 return games.
The contrasting performances between Auger-Aliassime and Fernandez provided an exciting day of tennis action in Cincinnati.