Canadians are now 0-for-8 in their last ATP tournament finals since Denis Shapovalov won in Stockholm back in 2019.
Evans, 30, won his first title in three tries. Evans was a finalist at the 2017 Sydney International tournament in Australia and the 2019 Delray Beach Open in the United States.
The Murray River Open served as a tune-up before the Australian Open, which begins Monday (Sunday night Eastern Time).
Auger-Aliassime will play German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in his first match of the major tournament Monday, hoping to improve on his first-round exit in last year s event.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2021.
Toss the playbook out the window.
The trusted and time-tested warm-ups, the routines, the rituals employed in the lead-up to the year’s first major? Yeah, you can scrap those, too. This is an Australian Open like no other, after all, one held amidst a global pandemic; one that’s seen athletes quarantined and the run-of-the-mill practice session become a treasured commodity.
Hotel rooms became improvised gymnasiums, fitted with stationary bikes, yoga matts and hand weights. Mattresses became backboards, entryways suddenly ideal for suicide sprints. But sometimes you’ve just got to make do.
“Players are so used to routines. They like to be in control. They’re not in control,” observed Chris Evert, a two-time Australian Open champion. “I think it’s going to demand a lot of patience and a lot of flexibility and who’s going to really adjust and adapt the best under those precarious circumstances.”
MELBOURNE, Australia - Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the final of the Murray River Open.The No. 3 seed, from Montreal, downed world No..
MELBOURNE, Australia — Canada s Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the final of the Murray River Open.The No. 3 seed, from Montreal, downed world No. 80 Corentin Moutet of France 6-1, 6-2 in a . . .