18-Year-Old Felix Auger-Aliassime Advances to BNP Paribas Open Second Round

The youthful Canadian is growing up before our eyes.

In the opening match of Thursday’s Stadium 1 action, Felix Auger-Aliassime took on world No. 48 Cameron Norrie. While being both the younger and lower-seeded player, the Canadian had no issues dismissing Norrie from the desert in straight sets. With inspired play and strong service games, Auger-Aliassime took a 6-3, 6-2 victory to advance to the second round.

In a match that took barely over an hour to complete, Auger-Aliassime was masterful. Norrie had no answers for the Canadian’s serve, as he produced six aces and saved (2/2) 100% of his opponent’s break point opportunities.

As it turns out, not only is he world-class at real tennis, but he’s pretty good at virtual tennis too. Auger-Aliassime battled it out on Mario Tennis Aces with local-area schools kids at the Village Stage in Tennis Paradise the other day.

Auger-Aliassime is looking to continue a strong start to his 2019 season in the desert. Just last month, Auger-Aliassime had one his finest career performances with a run to the finals at the Rio Open.

Next up, Auger-Aliassime will face a heavy challenge as takes on world No. 10 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round.