Melbourne, Australia) – The second highest rated among those still alive at the top of the Australian Open bracket, Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime suffered less than in the previous round, when he won on the return after losing 2- 0, but still left a set along the way, beating Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo with partials of 6/1, 3/6, 6/1 and 6/4, after 2:38 of play.

Qualified for the knockout stages of a Grand Slam for the seventh time, he is the second Canadian in history with the most appearances at this stage, behind only Milos Raonic’s 20. His next rival in the tournament will be the Czech Jiri Lehecka, 21 and currently 71 in the world, who surprised the Briton Cameron Norrie with a nice comeback to the final score 6/7 (8-10), 6/3, 3/6, 6/1 and 6/4.

A quarter-finalist last year in Melbourne, his best campaign in the tournament so far, Aliassime got off to a great start against Cerundolo, opening 5-0 with two consecutive breaks. After winning easily in the first set, the Canadian saw his rival rise in production and leveled the game by making it 6/3 in the second set, during which the Argentine scored two breaks and none. suffered only one.

Aliassime responded well and came back to take control of the match in the third set. Again, he conceded just one game to the rival and returned to the top of the scoreboard. In the fourth and final game, a solitary break defined the victory for the Canadian, who finished the match with 9 aces, 71% use of service, 38 winners (against 22 by Cerundolo) and 30 unforced errors (38 by the ‘Argentine).

The Canadian’s next rival, in an unprecedented duel, Lehecka showed resilience against an oscillating Norrie, who got ahead twice, first by opening 1 set to 0 then by scoring 2 to 1. But the Briton was very bad in the fourth set. and also at the beginning of the fifth. The Czech was able to take advantage of the opportunities given to him and eliminated the number 11 seed.

This next round feels for Lehecka 💃💃#AusOpen #AO2023 pic.twitter.com/DdxM6Hxj6n

— #AusOpen (@AusOpen) January 20, 2023