Spoiler:
Felix Auger-Aliassime is up and running at the Miami Open presented by Itau, where on Thursday he defeated Australian qualifier Adam Walton 7-5, 6-4.
The Canadian fought off a trio of set points on serve at 4-5 in the opener before tallying three consecutive games to gain an advantage on the 24-year-old, who was playing his third tour-level match.
“I wasn’t doing anything too bad in the first set, I thought he was just playing really well, serving to his targets, [playing] high percentage,” Auger-Aliassime said. “He was making me work. It was tricky, he was not missing much. But I’m happy with the way I handled it, to come out of a match like this in straight sets to start things off is positive for me.”
Though rain paused the match for 36 minutes after the opening game, it did not slow down Auger-Aliassime from producing a high level. The 23-year-old hammered 33 winners, including 21 off his forehand, throughout the two-hour contest.
Auger-Aliassime will next meet fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round. The German leads 5-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings will look to build upon his 8-7 season record as he aims to win consecutive matches for the first time since reaching the Montpellier semi-finals in the first week of February.
Auger-Aliassime, a five-time tour-level titlist, earned his best ATP Masters 1000 result in Miami in 2019, when as a qualifier he enjoyed a semi-final run. The Montreal native also made the last four of the Rolex Paris Masters in 2022. He is 8-4 in south Florida.
Walton, who was making his ATP Masters 1000 debut, will rue his 0/5 break-point conversion rate.
The Canadian fought off a trio of set points on serve at 4-5 in the opener before tallying three consecutive games to gain an advantage on the 24-year-old, who was playing his third tour-level match.
“I wasn’t doing anything too bad in the first set, I thought he was just playing really well, serving to his targets, [playing] high percentage,” Auger-Aliassime said. “He was making me work. It was tricky, he was not missing much. But I’m happy with the way I handled it, to come out of a match like this in straight sets to start things off is positive for me.”
Though rain paused the match for 36 minutes after the opening game, it did not slow down Auger-Aliassime from producing a high level. The 23-year-old hammered 33 winners, including 21 off his forehand, throughout the two-hour contest.
Auger-Aliassime will next meet fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the second round. The German leads 5-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. The No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings will look to build upon his 8-7 season record as he aims to win consecutive matches for the first time since reaching the Montpellier semi-finals in the first week of February.
Auger-Aliassime, a five-time tour-level titlist, earned his best ATP Masters 1000 result in Miami in 2019, when as a qualifier he enjoyed a semi-final run. The Montreal native also made the last four of the Rolex Paris Masters in 2022. He is 8-4 in south Florida.
Walton, who was making his ATP Masters 1000 debut, will rue his 0/5 break-point conversion rate.
9-8 Felix w tym sezonie. 
