Indian Wells plays host to All- Canadian affair

INDIAN WELLS — Canada's recent tennis boom is on display in Indian Wells. On Friday, 17-year-old  Felix Auger-Aliassime scored his first ATP main-draw win over countryman Vasek Pospisil.

The victory puts him halfway through the all-Canada section of the Indian Wells draw, with his second-round match being against Milos Raonic.

"That's crazy. It's bad luck having three Canadians in the same bracket," said Canada's second-highest-ranked ATP star Denis Shapovalov.

Auger-Aliassime, who was born in 2000 and won two ATP Challenger titles last year, got past Pospisil in straight sets, blasting serves into the 130 mph range and winning point after point with power off the ground and touch at the net.

He won the first-set 6-2, but lost his stranglehold on the match in the second set, letting it go to a tiebreak.

"For some reason I kind of got nervous and I was seeing maybe the finish line and [that] was kind of playing in my head," Auger-Aliassime said.

After falling behind 1-3 in the tiebreak, Auger-Aliassime came back to win it 7-4 with a short forehand up the line.

No. 32-seeded Raonic in the next round, though, will pose a bigger challenge. Raonic has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world, but injuries have ruined his past year.

"It's exciting to see someone I have looked up to growing up," Auger-Aliassime said. "I'll try do everything I can to return the serve and hang in there."