Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime loses to Daniel Evans in Murray River Open final

MELBOURNE, Australia — Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime lost to Great Britain’s Daniel Evans 6-2, 6-3 in the Murray River Open final Sunday.

Auger-Aliassime, the third-ranked player at the tournament, was searching for his first ATP title in seven appearances in tournament finals. However, 32 unforced errors and four double faults doomed the 20-year-old Montreal native in the loss.

Canadians are now 0-for-8 in their last ATP tournament finals since Denis Shapovalov won in Stockholm back in 2019.

Evans, 30, won his first title in three tries. Evans was a finalist at the 2017 Sydney International tournament in Australia and the 2019 Delray Beach Open in the United States.

The Murray River Open served as a tune-up before the Australian Open, which begins Monday (Sunday night Eastern Time).

Auger-Aliassime will play German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in his first match of the major tournament Monday, hoping to improve on his first-round exit in last year’s event.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2021.

The Canadian Press