Madrid tournament | Félix Auger-Aliassime advances to the 3rd round, Leylah Fernandez eliminated

(Madrid) Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime had no difficulty eliminating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino on Saturday, winning 6-0, 6-4 in the second round of the Madrid Tennis Open.

Dominant in service, Auger-Aliassime (35^e) won 88% of rallies when his first ball was in play and faced no break points.

Auger-Aliassime (35^e) had the upper hand 4-6, 6-1 and 6-4 against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka (78^e) in the first round. In the third round, he meets the Czech Jakub Mensik (74^e) or the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (10^e).

“FAA” broke his 35-year-old opponent from the outset, for whom clay is not his preferred surface. The Quebecer kept the pressure on and won the first round in 24 minutes.

Mannarino (20^e) won only seven of 32 points in the first set.

The Frenchman recovered somewhat in the second set and won his first two games with balls in hand. Auger-Aliassime, however, managed a fourth break to bring the score to 3-2.

Mannarino was never able to come from behind and the match ended in 71 minutes. He won the first clash between the two men on the ATP circuit in Cincinnati last year.

Fernandez eliminated

Earlier, Quebecer Leylah Fernandez (35^e) was broken at the end of the third set and Tunisian Ons Jabeur (ninth) took advantage of it to win a long third round duel 7-5, 2-6 and 6-4.

Apart from the second set, Fernandez had difficulty serving. She offered 18 break points to Jabeur, notably committing six double faults.

Both players won exactly 106 points in this hard-fought match which lasted 2 hours 26 minutes.

Jabeur had won the two previous duels between the two women on the WTA circuit, in 2020 and 2021. She will now play against Latvian Jelena Ostapenko (10^e), who won 6-3 and 6-3 against Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle (82^e) in the round of 16.

Fernandez started the match strong, winning his first game in four rallies, then breaking his opponent’s first serve. Jabeur, who won this tournament in 2022, however managed a break herself a few games later to return to equal service.

At 3-2, Fernandez gave himself two more break points without being able to take advantage. The scenario repeated itself in the ninth game, but with the roles reversed. Fernandez finally faltered in his final service game, allowing Jabeur to serve for the set.

Fernandez was much more efficient serving in the second set, offering no break opportunities to Jabeur, eight years his senior. She won the last four games of the set, forcing a deciding set with her third set point.

In the third, the two players exchanged two breaks before Fernandez gave in a third time.

Ontarian Denis Shapovalov (132^e) is also in the running and has a meeting with the German Alexander Zverev (fifth) on Sunday.