Auger-Aliassime bounced from Mexican Open after first-round loss to qualifier

Feb 26, 2024 | 11:22 PM

ACAPULCO, Mexico — Felix Auger-Aliassime knows Acapulco is famous for its cliff diving, beaches and bars, but the Montreal tennis star was hoping it might also become a destination to get his inconsistent game back on track.

Hobbled by injuries and untimely lapses, Auger-Aliassime was looking at the popular Mexican Open to reclaim his panache.

But, despite beating 21-year-old Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-2 in the opening set on Monday night, Auger-Aliassime dropped the next two sets 6-3 and 6-2 to lose the opening-round best-of-three men’s singles match in one hour, 56 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime finished with five aces, 15 unforced errors, nine double faults, nine service games won and two return games won.