De Minaur Fights Past Duckworth in All-Aussie Montreal Battle

Third seed Alex de Minaur kept alive his four-year unbeaten record against fellow Australians, but was made to work hard by 86th-ranked compatriot James Duckworth in their second-round match in Montreal.

The contest turned in an instant in the second-set tiebreaker when a return which rolled off the top of the net handed de Minaur a match point, after he had saved six set points.

"A little bit of luck went my way in the tiebreaker," de Minaur said. "He was hitting me off the court in the second set, but I got lucky and managed to sneak away with the tiebreaker."

"Ultimately it was a lot of fighting and competing," added de Minaur, the 2023 runner-up in Canada, who married British WTA player Katie Boulter last month.

Asked about his record against fellow Australians, he said: "We're doing our best to make Australia proud. We have strength in numbers."

In other second-round action, China's Shang Juncheng — only just returned from months away because of injury — scored the first notable upset of the week, beating 10th seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5). Shang saved five match points, broke Rublev as the Russian served for the match at 5-3 in the third, and held on through a seven-deuce service game.

Former world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas dispatched Martin Damm 6-4, 6-4 in a rain-delayed first-round match lasting 98 minutes, setting up a clash with Brazilian Joao Fonseca. The 53rd-ranked Greek, who won in Gstaad last month, said his coaching split from his father Apostolos is paying off.

"It's a chapter that should have started a long time ago," Tsitsipas said. "I guess I was too patient with my time and too nice with handling certain things... Certain things come at a certain time, I'm very Buddhist in that sort of philosophy."

Hubert Hurkacz, a 2022 Montreal finalist returning from a Wimbledon knee injury, beat Marcos Giron 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. Britain's Jakob Fearnley overcame Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 despite more than 30 unforced errors, and next meets 13th seed Jakub Mensik.

Compatriot Jack Draper shed bitter tears as his injury comeback collapsed in a 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 loss to France's Terrance Atmane. Canadian Denis Shapovalov retired with an ankle injury, handing Zachary Svajda a 4-6, 6-4, 3-0 win.