Felix Auger-Aliassime and Leylah Annie Fernandez of Montreal, Quebec, have both reached the second round of the 2024 Australian Open. Fernandez, the No. 32 women’s seed, defeated Sara Bejlek of the Czech Republic 7-6, 6-2 on Saturday night in Canada (Sunday morning in Melbourne). Auger-Aliassime, seeded 27th, defeated Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 5-7, 6-3 on Monday.
Fernandez broke Bejlek four times. The Canadian won the first set in a tiebreak 7:5. Bejlek made a forehand and backhand error, meaning the tiebreak was tied by five points each. A key statistic of the game was the winners, as Fernandez had 27 and Bejlek only 17.
Fernandez will next face Alycia Parks of the USA in the second round on Tuesday evening in Canada (Wednesday morning in Melbourne). This will be their first ever face-to-face meeting.
Auger-Aliassime should have a huge amount of confidence defeating a Grand Slam champion. Thiem won the 2010 United States Open when he defeated Alexander Zverev of Germany 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6. On Monday, Auger-Aliassime won a marathon fight that lasted four hours and 59 minutes. Auger-Aliassime had a chance to win in straight sets, but had a crucial double fault and an unforced error in the third set tiebreak. However, it was Thiem who had the most unforced errors in the match as he had 66 compared to Auger-Aliassime’s 53.
Next up for Auger-Aliassime in the second round is Hugo Grenier from France. This will be their first face-to-face meeting.
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