The surface may have changed, but Felix Auger-Aliassime continues to win.
Coming off a semifinal appearance at the Miami Open in March, the 18-year-old defeated Juan Ignacio Londero in the opening round of the Monte-Carlo Masters 7-5. 7-6(5).
🇨🇦 Felix Auger-Aliassime now 8-4 on clay this year & 7-3 in tiebreaks on all surfaces in 2019...Also won 11 of last 13 matches vs players outside the Top 40 in World Rankings #ATP #RolexMCMasters pic.twitter.com/EeSyfRpMlk
— John Horn (@SportsHorn) April 16, 2019
Now ranked No. 33 in the world, the Montreal native won 38 of his 43 first-serve points, including five aces. He broke Londero three times and capitalized on the Argentine qualifier's serve, winning 31 percent of first-serve points off returns. By comparison, he held Londero to only 12 percent.
Gearing up for the French Open at the end of May, Auger-Aliassime now holds a 10-7 record on the surface: his best mark.
However, he now has a big test in front of him in the second round. The Wild Card will face World No. 3 Alexander Zverev for the first time in his career. Back in the beginning of March, he easily defeated then-No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the third round of the 2019 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif.