Rogers Cup 2018: Auger-Aliassime breezes past Pouille for first-round victory

Rudi Schuller

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Rogers Cup 2018: Auger-Aliassime breezes past Pouille for first-round victory image

Centre Court suits Felix Auger-Aliassime just fine.

The 17-year-old Canadian was thrust under the spotlight at the Rogers Cup in Toronto on Tuesday, and he justified being scheduled at the Aviva Centre's main arena as he defeated France's Lucas Pouille in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime, a promising teenager who has had success at the ITF Futures and ATP Challenger Tour, was granted a wildcard for the Toronto tournament and showed flashes of his potential in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pouille in the Round of 64.

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The Montreal native jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set but had to battle through a surge by his experienced opponent. Pouille, ranked 18th in the world, pushed back to narrow Auger-Aliassime's lead to 5-4 before the Canadian was able to break the Frenchman's serve and claim the first-set victory.

The second set unfolded in similar fashion, with the youngster racing out to a big lead before Pouille attempted to reel him back in. Auger-Aliassime built up a 5-2 advantage in the final set before Pouille clawed back to win the next game. However, the Canadian's lead proved too big to overcome and a confident Auger-Aliassime won the final four points in a row to advance to the Round of 32.

In total, it took Auger-Aliassime 1:17 to win his first Rogers Cup match. The teen hit five aces and had just one double-fault in the contest as he put a premium on dictating the play against Pouille.

"Against these [top-ranked] players, the key is to impose yourself and impose your game because if they feel like they have time to attack, like he did a little bit at the end of the first set, it can get tougher really fast," Auger-Aliassime told TSN. "From the start I was really able to dictate and to keep my momentum going the whole match."

Rudi Schuller