It wasn’t the start to the clay season that Canada’s top two ATP players hoped for on Monday at the Monte-Carlo Masters as both Félix Auger-Aliassime and Denis Shapovalov were eliminated in the first round.
Shapovalov kicked off the second day of main draw play by falling 6-3, 7-6(5) to American Marcos Giron. The 25-year-old had opportunities to push the match to a third set but couldn’t take advantage of his chances. He was only able to convert one of the six break points he generated on return while Giron won both of his.
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For his part, Auger-Aliassime’s 7-6(5), 6-3 loss to Daniel Altmaier was also a story of multiple missed opportunities. The tournament’s no. 16 seed held a break lead in both sets but was unable to get across the finish line. He also earned three break point chances when his German opponent served for the match at 5-3 but couldn’t get the match back on serve.
This is Auger-Aliassime’s second consecutive early loss in Monte-Carlo after falling in round two last year and Shapovalov was making his first appearance at the Masters 1000 tournament since 2019. The European clay court swing continues on the ATP Tour next week in Barcelona and Munich.
Feature photo courtesy: Martin Sidorjak
