TORONTO — Felix Auger-Aliassime is still looking for the rhythm from his breakout 2022 campaign.
Auger-Aliassime lost 6-4, 6-4 to Australia's Max Purcell in opening-round men's singles action at the National Bank Open on Tuesday. After winning his first four career ATP Tour titles last year, Auger-Aliassime has had his share of struggles on the court in 2023 having dealt with knee pain in recent months.
The Montreal native, who turned 23 years old on Tuesday, hasn't earned consecutive wins since reaching the Indian Wells quarterfinals in March.
"I was more confident today, more positive coming into the match," Auger-Aliassime said. "I had higher expectations in terms of the result."
"It's disappointing," he added. "But I'm training well, of course I'm feeling good physically. So I try to think it's just a matter of time.
"You have to win the first match and I haven't been able to do that the last two weeks. But I'm confident that once I'll get a first win, then I can go further in the draw."
Auger-Aliassime — the 10th seed in the tournament and world No. 12 — had five aces, five double faults and went without a single break point opportunity.
"Overall, I think I wasn't serving really well, especially on the first serve which is a big strength for me," Auger-Aliassime said. "I need to find a way, when guys are serving like this, to return better."
Purcell, who entered the tournament as a qualifier, had eight aces to just one double fault. He also broke on two of his four chances.
The Aussie defeated Canadians Peter Polansky and Brayden Schnur — both in straight sets — to make it into the main draw.
Purcell will next face Great Britain's Andy Murray — who defeated Italy's Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (3), 6-0 earlier Tuesday — on Wednesday.
Purcell jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the opening set, winning the last game behind one of his three early aces.
"Tough first game, which is understandable with the circumstances," Auger-Aliassime said. "I haven't won a lot of matches lately. A bit of tension, that is normal.
"I thought from that point, he was playing well. He was serving very well, high percentage, precise. So then it was tough for me … try and come back but couldn't find a way."
Auger-Aliassime then seemed to find his footing and trimmed the errors, winning two of the next three games.
But Purcell's fifth ace of the set closed a run of four straight points in the final game and won him the set.
After taking the opening game of the second set, Auger-Aliassime dropped the next three.
Down 4-2 and the crowd cheering him on in hopes of a comeback, Auger-Aliassime forced a deuce with a cross-court forehand winner. After giving up the advantage, the Canadian took it back with an ace followed by an error from Evans.
To the delight of the Sobeys Stadium crowd, he fired another ace to make it a one-game set.
After giving up the next game on an error, Auger-Aliassime quickly came back to make it a 5-4 set with yet another ace.
With Purcell serving on match point, Auger-Aliassime hit a high return that went out of bounds to end the match.
In other men's singles action, Canada's Gabriel Diallo won his first ATP Tour level match, defeating Great Britain's Dan Evans 7-6 (4), 7-5 to advance to the second round.
The Montreal native never fell behind in the match, although he went through a back and forth first set that saw him consistently have to keep Evans at bay. He picked up set point on an Evans double fault.
In the second set, the 21-year-old Diallo jumped out to a 3-1, then 5-3 lead before Evans came back to tie the set each time. But Diallo closed it out winning the final two games.
"Obviously it's my first ATP win and of course doing it at home in Toronto, it means the world," Diallo said. "So I would say this is individually my best accomplishment so far."
Diallo will next face Australia's Alex de Minaur in the second round on Wednesday. The Aussie defeated 11th-seeded Brit Cameron Norrie 7-5, 6-4 earlier Tuesday.
In first-round men's doubles action, Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., and partner Nicolas Mahut of France defeated Canadians Kelsey Stevenson and Benjamin Sigouin 7-5, 6-4 to advance.
The Canadian pairing of Adil Shamasdin and Polansky were also bounced, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Germany's Tim Putz and Kevin Krawietz.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2023.
Abdulhamid Ibrahim, The Canadian Press
