Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime cruised into the second round of the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament with a 6-3, 6-1 win over American qualifier Aleksandar Kovacevic on Wednesday.
The Canadian picked up his fifth break of the match to go up 5-1 in the second set then served out for the win by converting his first match point.
Auger-Aliassime is looking to rebound from a first-round loss to Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in his hometown last week at the National Bank Open.
That came after a busy Paris Olympics that saw the 24-year-old win mixed-doubles bronze with Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski while also advancing to the bronze-medal match of the men’s singles competition.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime cruises into 2nd round:
Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated American Alexandre Kovacevic 6-3, 6-1 in the round of 64 at the Cincinnati Open.
Auger-Aliassime will next face Norway’s Casper Ruud in the second round of the Masters-level tournament.
The two last faced each other in the men’s singles quarterfinals at the Olympics, with Auger-Aliassime winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
On the women’s side, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu lost 4-6, 7-5 to Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan
Later Wednesday, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., faced China’s Yue Yuan in a women’s first-round match.
WATCH | Andreesu falls to Avanesyan:
Bianca Andreescu suffered defeat to Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan in the opening round of the Cincinnati Open in straight sets (6-4, 7-5).
