Canadians Raonic, Auger-Aliassime drop 3rd-round matches in Washington
Pair move on to next week's Rogers Cup in Montreal
Canadians Milos Raonic and Felix Auger-Aliassime were defeated Thursday in their third-round matches at the Citi Open tennis tournament.
Raonic, seeded eighth in Washington, was defeated 6-4, 6-4 by Germany's Peter Gojowczyk. Ninth-seed Auger-Aliassime was downed 6-3, 6-4 by sixth seed Marin Cilic of Croatia.
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., and Gojowczyk both struggled with their serve. Raonic was accurate on just 51 per cent of his first serves, compared to 47 per cent for Gojowczyk. But the German scored points where it mattered, converting both of his break point opportunities while fending off all three of Raonic's chances at a break.
Auger-Aliassime, 18, showed some power against his six-foot-six hard-serving opponent, firing 10 aces to Cilic's four. But the Montreal teen also had 11 double-faults to just four for Cilic and saved just three of the seven break points he faced. Cilic saved four of Auger-Aliassime's break point chances.
WATCH | Raonic and Auger-Aliassime falter at Citi Open:
Raonic and Auger-Aliassime will join Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver, Peter Polansky of Thornhill and Brayden Schnur of Pickering, Ont., in the main draw of the Rogers Cup, which begins next week in Montreal.