DUBAI : Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime made a winning return to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, battling past China’s Zhizhen Zhang 6-3 7-6(4) in the opening round on Monday.
Last year’s runner-up, who fell to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the 2025 final, saved all four break points he faced. Zhang, however, staved off five match points — two in the 10th game of the second set and three more in the 12th — before Auger-Aliassime sealed victory in a tiebreak.
The Canadian will next face French qualifier Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, who fired 29 aces in a 7-6(3) 6-7(3) 7-6(4) win over Tunisian wild card Moez Echargui.
Elsewhere, British fourth seed Jack Draper defeated French qualifier Quentin Halys 7-6(8) 6-3, while Swiss wild card Stan Wawrinka beat Lebanon’s Benjamin Hassan 7-5 6-3.
Chile Open
At the Chile Open in Santiago, Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann raced through the first seven games en route to a 6-0 6-3 victory over Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.
Seventh seed Francisco Comesana needed two hours and 51 minutes to overcome Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-4 2-6 7-6(4), saving a match point in the deciding set. He will face Italian qualifier Andrea Pellegrino, who beat Argentine Alex Barrena 6-2 2-6 6-1.
Croatian qualifier Dino Prizmic also advanced with a 6-4 5-7 6-2 win over Chile’s Nicolas Jarry.
Abierto Mexicano Telcel
Qualifier Patrick Kypson claimed his first ATP Tour-level win in nearly two years, upsetting Australia’s Alex de Minaur 6-1 6-7(4) 7-6(4) in Acapulco.
Kypson, ranked 103rd, defeated a Top-10 opponent for the first time and denied de Minaur, the 2023 and 2024 champion, after the Australian served for the match at 5-4 in the third set.
Spain’s Rafael Jodar ousted seventh seed Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-2, while fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, sixth seed Valentin Vacherot, Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic and Americans Brandon Nakashima and Aleksandar Kovacevic also progressed.
