The Associated Press
Félix Auger-Aliassime beat Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Canadian third-round match at the Barcelona Open on Thursday.
The 10th-seeded Auger-Aliassime, from Montreal, saved the only break point he faced on the clay court.
The seventh-seeded Shapovalov, from Richmond Hill, Ont., saved only five of nine break points.
“I’ve had other good ones [this year], but against a player like Denis, to win in that way is positive,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I was able to do a lot of good things out there and hopefully I can keep that form going.”
Shapovalov didn’t appear to be at full health as a trainer looked at his shoulder during the match.
Afterward, he said the shoulder is affecting him, especially on serve, but added it is not a serious injury.
Shapovalov was disappointed with his form against Auger-Aliassime.
“I just think he played his game. I didn’t show up today,” Shapovalov said. “He didn’t have to do anything special really. It was more me missing today. Honestly, I think we both can agree that’s what happened. It wasn’t much of a match.”
It was the third win in five career meetings against Shapovalov at the top level for the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime. The Montrealer is now 2-0 on clay against the 22-year-old Shapovalov.
Auger-Aliassime was far more effective on serve. He won 78 per cent of points when he got his first serve in, 15 percentage points better than Shapovalov.
The two players are long-time friends after coming up through the junior ranks. Shapovalov stayed at Auger-Aliassime’s family’s house during his improbable run to the Rogers Cup semi-finals in 2017.
Auger-Aliassime will face No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the quarter-finals on Friday. Tsitsipas beat No. 14 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday.
Auger-Aliassime is 2-3 against Tsitsipas lifetime, having lost the past three matches.
Tsitsipas is on a roll, having won the ATP Masters event on clay last week in Monte Carlo.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal beat Kei Nishikori 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open.
The top-seeded Nadal is still searching for his best tennis after being upset in the Monte Carlo quarter-finals by Andrey Rublev. He needed three sets to beat 111th-ranked Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in his first match in Barcelona on Wednesday.
Nadal will face Britain’s Cameron Norrie next. Norrie advanced after David Goffin retired in the second set of their match due to injury.
Halep starts clay season with dominant win
STUTTGART, Germany — Simona Halep returned from injury to start her clay-court season with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Marketa Vondrousova on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Porsche Grand Prix.
There was no sign of rust as Halep wrapped up her win over Vondrousova in less than an hour without facing a single break point. Halep plays either Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarter-finals after the Russian upset eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic 6-1, 7-5.
Elina Svitolina came through a tougher test as she beat three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber 7-6 (4), 6-3. Svitolina was 3-1 down in the tiebreaker before winning six of the next seven points, and didn’t face a break point in the second set. The fourth-seeded Ukrainian will face Petra Kvitova in the quarters.
Karolina Pliskova hit 21 aces as she beat former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 to set up a meeting with top-ranked Ash Barty.
Fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka swept past Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-4, 6-2. Sabalenka next faces Anett Kontaveit after the Estonian eliminated Sofia Kenin on Wednesday.
The Canadian Press with a report from The Associated Press