ADELAIDE (Reuters) – World number six Felix Auger-Aliassime began his season with a straight-sets defeat by Australian qualifier Alexei Popyrin on Monday while Holger Rune crashed out to Yoshihito Nishioka in the ATP 250 Adelaide International 1 first round.
Auger-Aliassime enjoyed a strong second half of the 2022 season, picking up titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel, as well as helping Canada to the Davis Cup crown, but failed to reach those levels in a 6-4 7-6(5) loss to Popyrin.
The 23-year-old Australian fired 11 aces against his second-seeded opponent to wrap up the biggest victory of his career. His previous two wins over top 10 opponents, Dominic Thiem and Stefanos Tsitsipas, came via retirements.
“I played really well, really solid. I served well and used my forehand when I had to, solid on my backhand … it was down to all the hard work I did in the off-season with my team,” Popyrin said. “I’m just really grateful for this win.
“It’s up there (with the other big wins). After a tough season last year to come out first match and beat a guy like Felix is a great feeling and the hard work is paying off.”
Up next for the world number 120 is American Marcos Giron, who won his opening match against French veteran Richard Gasquet on Sunday.
Denmark’s Rune, who won three titles in 2022 including the Paris Masters, where the 19-year-old beat Novak Djokovic in the final, lost 2-6 6-4 6-4 to Nishioka.
The Japanese player meets American Mackenzie McDonald next.
Miomir Kecmanovic overcame Australian Christopher O’Connell 6-4 6-4 and could play Daniil Medvedev in the second round if the third-seeded Russian gets past Italian Lorenzo Sonego on Tuesday.
Also in action on the second day of the tournament are Djokovic, Denis Shapovalov, Jannik Sinner, Andy Murray and Karen Khachanov.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
