TORONTO: Home hopes were dashed on Wednesday at the ATP Toronto Masters as Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime exited in the second round.

Fifth seed Shapovalov became the highest-ranked seed to actually lose a match — second seed Rafael Nadal withdrew before playing — as he fell 6-1, 6-4 to good friend Frances Tiafoe.

Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic def­eated Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 6-4.

Shapovalov was buried by American Tiafoe, a lucky loser from qualifying who had lost four previous matches against his northern rival.

Shapovalov has now dropped three matches in a row, at Wimbledon and last month in the Swiss alpine village of Gstaad where he was top seed.

The Canadian threw in nine double-faults, producing a total of 30 unforced errors in defeat.

Tiafoe booked a third-round meeting with French veteran Gael Monfils, a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 winner over Australian John Millman.

Monfils won only his fourth match since tennis resumed last August against 13 defeats.

His last win at Masters 1000 level was Paris Bercy in November, 2019.

In other second-round action, Jannik Sinner fell flat after lifting the trophy in Washington on Sunday, the Italian losing 6-3, 6-4 to James Duckworth.

Just 72 hours after claiming the biggest title of his career, the 16th seed went down in his opening match against the Australian qualifier after enjoying a first-round bye.

Sinner, 19, is the youngest player ranked in the top 15 since Juan Martin del Potro in 2008 by virtue of his victory in the US capital.

But north of the border, his luck changed. Sinner exited in just over an hour and a quarter with the 85th-ranked Aussie securing the upset with one break per set.

Duckworth next plays top seed and world No.2 Daniil Medvedev in the third round.

Fourth seed Andrey Rublev and fellow Russian Karan Khachanov, the Olympic silver medallist, reached the third round, Rublev beating Italy’s Fabio Fognini 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 and Khachanov ousted compatriot and 15th seed Aslan Karatsev 7-6 (9-7), 6-4.

Seventh seed Hubert Hurkacz reached the third round without hitting a ball, benefitting from Kei Nishikori’s withdrawal with a shoulder injury.

Number eight Diego Schwartzman of Argentina stopped Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-1 despite a dozen aces from the bearded Frenchman.

South African Lloyd Harris made quick work of Feliciano Lopez — inserted into the draw as a lucky loser when Nadal withdrew on Tuesday with a foot injury — beating the veteran Spaniard 6-2, 6-3.

Published in Dawn, August 13th, 2021