Andreescu, Fernandez advance at Italian Open, Shapovalov, Mboko eliminated

Canadians Leylah Fernandez and Bianca Andreescu are through to the third round of the WTA 1000 Italian Open tennis tournament with wins on Friday.

Fernandez, from Laval, Que., easily advanced in the women's draw, downing Croatian Antonia Ruzic 6-4, 6-0 in a second-round match.

Fernandez, the 24th seed, was five-of-eight on break points in the contest.

Andreescu, of Mississauga, Ont., downed 20th seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-1, 3-6, 6-2.

Vekic didn't do herself any favours with 11 double faults (Andreescu had four) and had a first-serve percentage of just 46 per cent.

Fernandez will face Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in the third round, while Andreescu will meet 11th seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

Rybakina hasn't dropped a set in three previous meetings with Andreescu, including a win in the second round of the Madrid Open last month.

Meanwhile, Victoria Mboko of Burlington, Ont., and Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost their matches Friday.

Lithuania's Vilius Gaubus upset 27th-seedShapovalov in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.

Shapovalov had issues with his serve. The Canadian did have four aces — Gaubus had none — but also double-faulted nine times, compared to just twice for his opponent.

And Gaubus had a first-serve percentage of 78 per cent, compared to 53 per cent for Shapovalov. The Lithuanian converted on three-of-six break attempts — the last giving him a 5-4 advantage in the second set.

Shapovalov had seven break opportunities but only converted one.

Mboko started very well in her match with American Coco Gauff, winning the first set 6-3. But the fourth-seeded Gauff came back to win the remaining two sets 6-2, 6-1.

The 18-year-old Canadian is one of the rising stars in women's tennis and has a record of 33-4 this season playing primarily on the lower-tier ITF World Tennis Tour.

Mboko ended last year ranked No. 350 but entered Rome ranked No. 156.

Alcaraz wins in return

Carlos Alcaraz returned from a brief injury layoff and didn't appear to have any issues during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Serbian qualifier Dusan Lajovic.

The third-ranked Alcaraz withdrew from the Madrid Open last month due to an upper right leg ailment that bothered him during the Barcelona Open final. He also had a left leg injury.

Against Lajovic, Alcaraz wore a long black brace that covered the upper portion of his right leg and stretched down to just below his knee.

"The body felt great," Alcaraz said. "I just moved well. I made a few good sprints today without any pain. ... It was a test for me so I think I passed the test today."

"It was a great performance, great level, which was surprising for me a little bit, but just really happy for that," Alcaraz added.

Alcaraz won the opening four games but dropped his serve when he served for the first set at 5-2. The Spaniard broke back in the next game to close it out, showing off his speed on the clay court at the Foro Italico when he ran down a drop shot and produced a backhand winner on one key point.

Alcaraz also went ahead early in the second set. He finished with the same number of winners as unforced errors — 24.

Alcaraz, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, improved to 10-1 on clay this season. He'll next face either 31st-seeded Alex Michelsen or Laslo Djere.

A four-time Grand Slam champion, Alcaraz is preparing to defend his title at the French Open, which starts May 25.

The Rome tournament also marks the return of top-ranked Jannik Sinner from a three-month doping ban.

Sinner and Alcaraz are in opposite sides of the draw.

Sinner opens against 99th-ranked Mariano Navone on Saturday.

In the women's tournament, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka opened with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Anastasia Potapova.

Sabalenka beat Gauff in the Madrid final last weekend.