Fans at IGA Stadium gave Felix Auger-Aliassime a lengthy standing ovation before his opening singles match in the National Bank Open on Wednesday.
It’s a good thing, because Auger-Aliassime, who finished fourth at the Paris Olympics and won bronze in mixed doubles with Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa, was gone 68 minutes later.
Flavio Cobolli of Italy beat Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2 a day before the Montreal tennis star’s 25th birthday.
Another Canadian, Vasek Pospisil of Vernon, B.C., only lasted 19 minutes against American Sebastian Korda and was forced to retire trailing 2-1.
Canadian wild card Denis Shapovalov was also bounced in a first-round loss to American qualifier Brandon Nakashima.
Seeded Americans got off to a good start at the men’s National Bank Open tennis tournament as Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton posted first-round wins Wednesday.
Paul, seeded 10th in Montreal, fired nine aces in a 6-4, 7-6 (2) win over Italy’s …