Felix Auger-Aliassime knows Acapulco is famous for its cliff diving, beaches and bars, but the Montreal tennis star was hoping it might also become a destination to get his inconsistent game back on track.
Hobbled by injuries and untimely lapses, Auger-Aliassime was looking at the popular Mexican Open in Acapulco to reclaim his panache.
But, despite beating 21-year-old Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-2 in the opening set on Monday night, Auger-Aliassime dropped the next two sets 6-3 and 6-2 to lose the opening-round men’s singles match in one hour, 56 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime finished with five aces, 15 unforced errors, nine double faults, nine service games won, and two return games won.
Cobolli finished with four aces, 10 unforced errors, two double faults, 10 service games won, and four return games won.
Cobolli will play the winner of Tuesday’s match between the fifth-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece and Roman Safiullin of Russia.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime eliminated in 1st match of Mexican tournament:
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Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime loses to Italian Flavio Cobolli (6-2,3-6,2-6) in the round of 32 at the Mexico Open in Acapulco.
Stakusic unaffected by rain, scheduling delay
Marina Stakusic didn’t let rain or a scheduling delay change her focus Monday night as she bounced Marina Melnikova of Russia 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the opening round of women’s singles at the San Diego Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., qualifier pounced on her opponent, also a qualifier, quickly in the opening set and only needed 49 minutes to wrap up the win. Both players appeared to be battling nerves and made several miscues before settling in.
Melnikova gained some momentum and confidence in the second set, cut back on her unforced errors and earned a tense 7-5 victory in 55 minutes.
But Stakusic shook off the setback and dominated the third and decisive set, winning 6-1. The match took two hours, nine minutes to complete.
Stakusic finished with four aces, seven double faults, 10 of 16 break points saved, eight service games won, and eight return games won. Melnikova had no ace, six double faults, 2 of 10 break points saved, six service games won, and six return games won.
Stakusic will play the winner of Tuesday’s match between seventh-seeded Donna Vekic of Croatia and 19-year-old wild card Katherine Hui of San Diego.
Eighth-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., is scheduled to play Tatjana Maria of Germany on Tuesday in first-round action.