Cerundolo upsets Canada's Auger-Aliassime in Miami Open third round

MIAMI — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Miami Open after being upset 6-2, 7-5 in a third-round match with Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.

Cerundolo, ranked 25th in Miami, scored a crucial break over fifth-seed Auger-Aliassime to go up 6-5 in the second set before serving out for the match.

The Argentine made the most of his opportunities, breaking Auger-Aliassime four times on six chances. He faced only two break points, saving one.

Auger-Aliassime saw his streak of six straight quarterfinals at Masters 1000 events come to an end.

It was the third high-profile third-round meeting between the players, with Auger-Aliassime winning at Indian Wells and the Australian Open.

Cerundolo said he fed off the energy of the crowd.

“Super happy to get another top-10 win, another important win for me,” he said. “I think I played really good from beginning to end. Super nice to play here. A lot of Argentinian, Latin people. ... Last year was amazing. So I’m really excited to be in the round of 16 again and try to keep winning.”

Cerundolo advanced to face Italy's Lorenzo Soneog, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over No. 12 seed Frances Tiafoe in one of the night matches slowed by a nearly two-hour rain delay.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., leading 2-0 in the second set against 18th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia retired from her fourth-round singles match Monday night due to an ankle injury.

Andreescu, whose match was 40 minutes late starting due to rain and then delayed for an hour with her leading the first set 3-2, dropped the opening set 7-6 (O) in 57 minutes. Then, leading the second set the Canadian injured her ankle and fell to the ground. She was wheelchaired off the court, giving Alexandrova the win.

In women's doubles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., and American partner Taylor Townsend advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over seventh seeds Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.

Fernandez and Townsend combined to fire six aces and win 64 per cent of first serve points in a match that took one hour 33 minutes to complete.

Olmos and Haddad Maia scored three of their four breaks and defended 10 of 13 breakpoint chances in a back-and-forth second set that ended with Haddad Maia hitting long facing match point.

Fernandez and Townsend will face third seeds Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 27, 2023.