ATP Tour

Auger-Aliassime weathers Cincinnati wind & Tsitsipas in first match in 40 days

Felix Auger-Aliassime returned to action in winning fashion on Sunday at the Cincinnati Open, where he overcame a familiar foe in his first tour-level match in 40 days.

The No. 4 player in the PIF ATP Rankings survived a late wobble to defeat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 7-5 and launch his campaign at the ATP Masters 1000 event. It was the Canadian’s first match since he fell to Novak Djokovic in a five-set thriller in the Wimbledon quarter-finals last month, having subsequently withdrawn ahead of his opening match in Montreal due to a back injury.

In a chaotic finish to the second-round clash, Auger-Aliassime twice surrendered a break advantage in the second set, including when he failed to serve out the match at 5-4 as the wind picked up. But the 26-year-old steadied himself to close out the victory, earning his fourth Lexus ATP Head2Head win over Tsitsipas in their 11 meetings.

“It got really windy,” Auger-Aliassime said when asked about attempting to serve for the match at 5-4. “The wind was pushing against me. I felt like I had no power in my serve. It was a tricky ending, but luckily I was able to get the break back. I was able to come back and serve it out better, with the wind this time.

“It got tricky in the end but overall, for someone who hasn’t played since Wimbledon — obviously it’s been a tough few weeks health wise. But I’m happy to be back with a win like this, it’s great.”

Now 31-14 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, Auger-Aliassime will turn his attention to a third-round meeting with Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who battled past Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 7-6(3), 7-6(5).

In other early action on Sunday, #NextGenATP star Joao Fonseca became the first teenager to reach the third round in Cincinnati in back-to-back years since Michael Chang and Pete Sampras in 1990-91. The 19-year-old Brazilian defeated Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 7-6(2) in one hour, 47 minutes and will next face Australian qualifier Christopher O’Connell, who led 11th seed Casper Ruud 7-5, 1-2 when the Norwegian retired due to injury.

Former Cincinnati champion Daniil Medvedev earned his first win at the event since 2023, defeating Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-5 to claim his 100th ATP Masters 1000 victory on hard courts. The fourth seed will next face Montreal finalist Brandon Nakashima, who downed Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-2, 7-5.