Auger-Aliassime through to third round at Indian Wells with win over Lestienne

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a convincing 6-4, 6-1 win over French qualifier Constant Lestienne on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime won 85 per cent of first serve points and broke Lestienne four times on 10 chances while defending all three break points he faced.

The 23-year-old Canadian will next face the winner of a match between second seed Carols Alcaraz of Spain and Italy's Matteo Arnaldi.

Auger-Aliassime had a bye in the first round as the 31st seed at the ATP Masters-level event.

He improved to 7-6 on the season as he looks to improve his recent form.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., needed only 73 minutes to bounce Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 6-1, 6-4 on Friday afternoon and advance to the second round.

Shapovalov had 19 service winners and eight aces compared to Zandschulp's seven and three.

Zandschulp had 18 unforced errors and six double faults, while Shapovalov had 11 unforced errors and four double faults.

The 24-year-old Canadian won eight service games and four return games. He also won five games in a row at one point of the match.

Shapovalov will next face 26th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, who had a first-round bye.

In men's doubles, Auger-Aliassime and his American partner Sebastian Korda were eliminated by Brit Lloyd Glasspool and Jean-Julien Rojer of Curaçao 3-6, 7-6, 10-3.

Auger-Aliassime and Korda led in aces 6-3, but made more double faults (9-4) and unforced errors in the one hour, 34-minute match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.