MONTREAL (AP) — Olympic doubles bronze medalists Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul won their opening singles matches Wednesday in the National Bank Open.
The ninth-seeded Fritz beat Mariano Navone of Argentina 6-4, 6-1 and the 10th-seeded Paul topped Luciano Darderi of Italy 6-4, 7-6 (2).
“It was a solid match,” Fritz said. “I feel like the level, probably from both of us, went up a bit in the second set. We started playing longer points.”
Fritz will face American Sebastian Korda in the second round. Coming off his second ATP Tour title Sunday night in Washington, Korda led Vasek Pospisil 2-1 in a night match when the Canadian retired because of a back injury.
Fellow Americans Ben Shelton and Brandon Nakashima also advanced, with qualifier Nakashima set to face Paul in the second round.
Shelton, seeded 11th, edged doubles partner Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, and Nakashima beat Canadian wild-card Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 7-5.
“I think the consistency in my tennis is improving every week,” Shelton said. “I’m feeling more and more comfortable. I’m starting to feel more comfortable on the court against guys that I’ve had a lot of trouble with before.”
Flavio Cobolli of Italy, coming off a loss to Korda on Sunday in the DC Open final, Felix beat 14th-seeded Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-3, 6-2.
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