Felix Auger-Aliassime became the second highly seeded Canadian to make an early exit from the Sofia Open after falling to Italy’s Salvatore Caruso in second-round action Wednesday.
Caruso, ranked 82nd in the world, defeated Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4 in a match that took around one hour 40 minutes to complete.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 21st in the world and seeded second in Sofia, was the heavy favorite entering the match at the ATP 250 indoor hardcourt event. But the 20-year-old Montrealer failed to convert any of his six break point possibilities. Caruso proved more opportunistic, converting two of his three chances on break point.
Caruso struggled with accuracy on his first serve, with only 44 per cent of them counting. But he didn’t hit into a double fault, while Auger-Aliassime committed five. Caruso also made up for his problematic first serve by winning 62 per cent of second serve points.
Auger-Aliassime had seven aces, but was hurt by the double faults.
Auger-Aliassime concludes his 2020 season with a 23-19 record and three tournament final appearances.
Serving for the quarterfinals, Caruso made a fine full stretch forehand volley and bolted an ace down the middle for match point. When Auger-Aliassime mis-fired on a final shot, Caruso was through in one hour, 40 minutes.
Caruso is the second Italian to reach the last eight joining 19-year-old phenom Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals.
Sinner, who reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at Roland Garros last month, won 32 of 37 first-serve points and saved both break points he faced in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Swiss lucky loser Marc-Andrea Huesler.
Top-seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., was defeated in his second-round match on Tuesday.
Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil faces sixth-seed John Millman of Australia in a quarterfinal match Thursday.
