CINCINNATI — Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament after falling to Great Britain’s Jack Draper 7-5, 4-6, 4-6 in a third-round matchup late Friday.
The match was mired by a controversy match point. With Draper serving for the match in the third set, up 40-30 and five games to four, Auger-Aliassime’s return appeared to handcuff Draper near the net. The ball appeared to bounce off Draper’s racket, into the grond and then over the net.
The chair umpire ruled that the ball went over the net without hitting the ground and the point — and match — was awarded to Draper.
“He shanked it on the floor,” Auger-Aliassime told the umpire, to no avail.
Tennis does not currently allow video review for anything beyond line-call challenges.
Auger-Aliassime fired 12 aces, but struggled with his serve, chalking up 12 double faults in his second match of the day.
The Montreal native broke Draper in the first set and won 73% of his first service points across the match.
Auger-Aliassime beat Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-3, 6-1 in a rain-delayed fourth-round bout earlier on Friday.
In women’s singles action, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., handed Russia’s Diana Shnaider a 6-1, 6-4 loss in third-round play.
Fernandez came back from down 4-1 in the second set after play was suspended due to rain, breaking on four of her 10 chances while firing seven aces to six double faults.
The 21-year-old Canadian will face American Jessica Pegula in the quarterfinals.
-with files from Postmedia Sports
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