Felix Auger-Aliassime defeats Adam Walton in Miami | ATP Tour

Miami

Felix wins Miami opener, sets Zverev clash

Ofner defeats Nishikori, who was playing first event since July

March 21, 2024

Felix Auger-Aliassime defeats Adam Walton in straight sets Thursday in Miami.
By ATP Staff

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.

Austrian Sebastian Ofner earned his second ATP Masters 1000 victory Thursday, spoiling Kei Nishikori’s comeback with a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.

The World No. 40 won 30 of his 37 first-serve points and struck 31 winners to oust the wild card, who was playing his first tournament since Atlanta last July.

“It’s never easy to play against a guy like him, he was a top player for years,” said the 27-year-old Ofner, who faces 20th seed Francisco Cerundolo in the second round. “For me it was a good match since I’ve been struggling a bit and I just tried to not give him too much rhythm… I’m really happy with my performance.”

Daniel Evans was also among the afternoon winners in Miami, where he rallied past Lorenzo Sonego 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours, 23 minutes. Despite winning just 11 of 39 points in the first set, Evans quickly rebounded to earn his first win against the Italians in four attempts.

The Briton produced sharp precision on his groundstrokes and often worked his way…