Daijiworld Media Network – Montreal
Montreal, Aug 6: The ATP Montreal Masters witnessed major upsets on Wednesday as top seed Alexander Zverev and Canadian favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime exited the tournament within hours of each other.
World No. 3 Zverev, who recently won the French Open title and finished runner-up at Wimbledon, suffered a surprise defeat against Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in the second round.
Griekspoor fought back after losing the opening set to defeat Zverev 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 6-4 in a major upset.
"I didn't expect to play well. I also didn't expect to play this bad, to be honest," Zverev said after the loss.
The German, playing his first tournament since his Wimbledon final defeat to Jannik Sinner, struggled to maintain his level after a competitive opening set and eventually bowed out against the world No. 69 Dutchman.
Meanwhile, home favourite Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrew from his scheduled night match due to a back injury suffered during training.
The Canadian said the injury appeared suddenly despite having trained for two weeks without any issues. He added that he was unable to serve properly during warm-up, making it impossible for him to compete.
Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev also joined the list of high-profile exits after losing to another Dutch player, Botic van de Zandschulp. The 2021 champion was defeated 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), missing out on his 100th Masters-level victory.
Tournament officials had already expressed disappointment after world No. 1 Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic skipped the event, and Auger-Aliassime's withdrawal added to the challenges.
Zverev's conqueror Griekspoor described the victory as one of the biggest of his career, saying he had endured a difficult season and was close to giving up at times.
Defending champion Ben Shelton, however, kept his title defence alive by defeating fellow American Jenson Brooksby 6-3, 7-5. Shelton recovered from a 4-1 deficit in the second set and won six of the final seven games to advance.
Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas also suffered an early exit, losing 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 to 19-year-old Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who recorded one of the biggest wins of his young career. Fonseca will next face ninth seed Casper Ruud.