Auger-Aliassime, Diallo advance to Cincinnati Open 3rd round; Fernandez exits

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriel Diallo advanced to the Cincinnati Open's third round in men's singles, while Leylah Fernandez exited the women's draw on Saturday.

The 23rd-seeded Auger-Aliassime won 6-2, 7-6 (3) over Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and fellow Montrealer Diallo, the 30th seed, defeated Argentina's Sebastian Baez 7-5, 6-4.

Both players received byes to the second round.

Auger-Aliassime hit 14 aces and 30 winners in his one-hour, 57-minute match. The 25-year-old also saved all four breakpoint chances he faced while converting two of his four opportunities at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

It was Auger-Aliassime's first win since Wimbledon after he lost to Hungary's Fabian Marozsan in the National Bank Open's second round on July 30.

The 24-year-old Diallo, who reached the third round in Toronto, struck nine aces and scored four breakpoints to win in one hour, 31 minutes.

Diallo will face world No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy in the next round, while Auger-Aliassime meets Arthur Rinderknech of France.

Fernandez, meanwhile, extended her losing streak to two matches since capturing the D.C. Open title in July.

The 22-year-old from Laval, Que., was seeded 21st but fell 6-3, 6-3 against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro of Spain, who made good on four of her six breakpoint chances.

In women's doubles, second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and partner Erin Routliffe of New Zealand won 7-5, 7-5 over Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan and Ena Shibahara of Japan in the first round.

Canadian tennis sensation Victoria Mboko, who soared to 24th in the world rankings after winning the National Bank Open women's singles crown on Thursday, withdrew from the Cincinnati Open to rest her injured right wrist.

The 18-year-old Mboko is expected to next take the court in the U.S. Open later this month. She will be seeded at the final Grand Slam of the year.