Murray Sound vs Sonego, Shelton Sets Alcaraz Showdown In Toronto; Auger-Aliassime Out
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At the Toronto Masters in second round action No. 3 Casper Ruud eased past 21-year-old Jiri Lehecka of 7-6(8-6), 6-4 in the last match of the day.
Ruud, ranked No. 5, tallied five aces, lost only 7 points on first serve and never dropped serve. The 3-time Slam finalist saved two set points in the first set breaker and was down 0-4.
“I was down 0-4 in that tie-break and I said, ‘I’m just going to somehow get my claws and keep holding onto this score,” Ruud said. “Luckily I got two mini-breaks back and then saved a couple set points. It’s sometimes just about luck, margins being on your side and luckily today they were on my side when I really needed it.”
Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime’s struggles continued. Playing on his 23rd birthday, Auger-Aliassime’s struggled continued against the big underdog Max Purcell as the Australian took it 6-4, 6-4.
The 23-year-old Purcell lost just three points on first serve and never faced a break point.
Auger-Aliassime has now lost eight of his last nine matches.
“To be honest, it’s disappointing,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But I’m training well. Of course, I’m feeling good physically. So I try to think it’s just a matter of time.”
Three-time champion Andy Murray advanced past Lorenzo Sonego 7-6(7-3), 6-0. Murray grabbed the breaker and never looked back in the win as he approaches a US Open seeding.
“It really wasn’t pleasant to play in,” said Murray of the windy conditions. “It was really blustery, changing direction during the point, and we knew coming in it was going to feel uncomfortable. We hit on this court this morning and it was really breezy.
“So I was expecting it but it still adds a bit of stress to the match and it was a really tight first set. There were lots of opportunities each way, I managed to sneak through the tie-break and after that he was obviously a bit disappointed, and I relaxed a little bit.”
Alex De Minaur scored a good win over 11th-seeded Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-4. Aleksandar Vukic continied his good summer run upending the 14th-seeded Borna Coric 6-2, 6-3.
Former champion Alexander Zverev dismissed Washington finalist Tallon Griekspoor 6-4, 7-6(7-3). Gabriel Diallo of Canada sent off Washington champion Daniel Evans 7-6(7-4), 7-5. (20y,41r) Ben Shelton handled (26y,64r) Spain’s Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-6(7-1), 6-4. Shelton will now take on fellow 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz tomorrow night in what should be an entertaining high-energy affair.
Also tomorrow, former champion and No. 2 seeded Daniil Medvedev faces Matteo Arnaldi.
No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas gets Gael Monfils — Paula Badosa withdrew from Montreal and Elina Svitolina lost today.
No. 5 Holger Rune faces Marcos Giron, No. 6 Andrey Rublev takes on Mackenzie McDonald and No. 7 Jannik Sinner collides with countryman Matteo Berrettini.
Murray returns to meet Max Purcell and Milos Raonic is back to take on Taro Daniel.
WEDNESDAY TORONTO MASTERS SCHEDULE
CENTER COURT
Matches Start At: 12:30 pm
[Q] Taro DANIEL (JPN) vs [WC] Milos RAONIC (CAN)
Stefanos TSITSIPAS (GRE) [4] vs [PR] Gael MONFILS (FRA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
Carlos ALCARAZ (ESP) [1] vs Ben SHELTON (USA) or
Bernabe ZAPATA MIRALLES (ESP)
[Q] Marcos GIRON (USA) vs Holger RUNE (DEN) [5]
GRANDSTAND
Matches Start At: 11:00 am
Taylor FRITZ (USA) [8] vs Ugo HUMBERT (FRA)
[Q] Matteo ARNALDI (ITA) vs Daniil MEDVEDEV [2]
Alexander ZVEREV (GER) [13] vs Alejandro DAVIDOVICH FOKINA (ESP)
Matteo BERRETTINI (ITA) vs Jannik SINNER (ITA) [7]
Tommy PAUL (USA) [12] vs Francisco CERUNDOLO (ARG)
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