MADRID — Canadian Denis Shapovalov advanced to the second round of the Madrid Open with a 7-6(1), 6-3 win over Frenchman Ugo Humbert on Monday.

Shapovalov, seeded 14th in Madrid, defended all nine break points he faced and cashed in his only break chance, entering the second set.

This proved to be the difference in an otherwise even game. Shapovalov won 53% of the total points, giving up a few percentage points on serve to Humbert and performing slightly better on returns.

With the win, Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., improved his career record against Humbert to 3-1.

Shapovalov will next face Britain’s Andy Murray. The former world No. 1 beat former No. 3 Dominic Thiem, who was playing in just his third event since returning from a wrist injury, 6-3, 6-4.

Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the eighth seed in Madrid, has a second-round bye.

Earlier, Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and her Czech partner Kateřina Siniaková were knocked out in the second round of women’s doubles after a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri.

Mihalíková and Eikeri made the most of their service game, winning 65% of total service points, compared to 54.3% for Fernandez and Siniaková.

Fernandez, of Laval, Que., and Siniaková were broken four of 10 times. They had six chances to break their opponents, but only converted once.

Fernandez and Siniaková advanced to the second round with a 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 10-7 win over sixth seeds Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil and Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan on Saturday.

Mihalíková and Eikeri were next scheduled to face second seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Ottawa and Giuliana Olmos of Mexico on Tuesday.

The doubles loss comes a day after Fernandez was ousted in singles with a 6-4, 6-4 loss to Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann in the second round.

Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., is the last remaining Canadian in the women’s singles competition. She is scheduled to face Jessica Pegula of the United States in the third round on Tuesday.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 2, 2022.

The Canadian Press