Dusan Lajovic ousts Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime from National Bank Open

By Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the National Bank Open in Toronto after losing 7-5, 6-4 to Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on Wednesday.

The Montreal native hit six aces but struggled with his forehand returns, making a number of unforced errors.

Auger-Aliassime, who turned 21 on Sunday, saved 3-of-4 break points across the set, but double faulted on the one he surrendered, giving Lajovic a 6-5 lead.

Lajovic broke the Canadian in the fourth game of the second set and never relinquished the lead.

As the No. 9 seed in the tournament, Auger-Aliassime had a bye through to the second-round while Lajovic defeated Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to advance.

The pair had previously faced off at the 2020 Australian Cup, with Lajovic taking the quarterfinal match in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime made it to the third round of the National Bank Open, formerly known as the Rogers Cup, back in 2019 before he was ousted from the competition by Russian Karen Khachanov.

The event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Canadian has had both highs and lows on the court recently.

He got to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in late July, then saw an abrupt end to his first Olympic experience. Auger-Aliassime faced Max Purcell in the opening round at the Tokyo Games and lost in straight sets to the 190th-ranked Australian.

Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was set to open his tournament later on Wednesday against American Frances Tiafoe.

The 22-year-old Canadian comes in as the tournament’s no. 5 seed.

At the women’s tournament in Montreal, fellow Canadian Rebecca Marino was battling Spain’s Paula Badosa on Wednesday.

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