Indian Wells: Félix Auger-Aliassime persists and signs against Francisco Cerundolo

UPGRADE DAY

Quebec's Félix Auger-Aliassime got his money's worth again on Monday in Indian Wells, despite defeating Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo.

< p>After a hotly contested battle lasting more than two hours, “FAA” triumphed in two sets of 7-5 and 6-4 over the 27th seed.

The Montrealer gave himself a good scare at the end of the duel. Unable to take advantage of two chances to close the books when serving for the match, at 5-3, he was broken by an indefatigable Cerundolo.

In the end, it took six match points so that Auger-Aliassime can settle the case of his 24-year-old rival, who sent a forehand out of bounds.

Despite this victory, “FAA” will certainly want to improve their rate of return in possession of the balls. He was dominant when he started the rally successfully on his first down, but only hit 49% of his first serve attempts.

He will also want to limit unforced errors in his next match, which will oppose him to the American Tommy Paul. In his first two meetings in California, he committed 25 and 28 respectively.

Auger-Aliassime will try to get his ticket to the quarter-finals ー and, who knows, maybe a duel against to Carlos Alcaraz ー on Tuesday.

A bad third run for Leylah

In the women's singles draw, Leylah Fernandez worked hard before beating Caroline Garcia in three sets.

The world's fifth-ranked player was incisive in the final set to reach the next round by virtue of a victory of 6-4, 6-7 (5) and 6-1, after more than 2:15 of play.

It is already the second time of the year that the French eliminated Fernandez by deploying her best assets. In the second round of the Australian Open in January, she won 7-6 (5) and 7-5.

The Quebecer gave everything to stay alive in the tiebreaker of the second leg of the match of the day. In the next set, she only won 34% of the points.

Dangerous in possession, with 11 aces and only three double faults, Garcia emerged victorious in 86% of the rallies she had initiated with a successful first serve.

The best result of Fernandez, 49th player in the world, this year, is a defeat in the quarterfinals at the Auckland tournament.

Garcia will rub meanwhile to Romania's Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16.