Canadian Milos Raonic beats American Tommy Paul at Mexican Open

Canadian Milos Raonic is heading to the second round in Acapulco.

The fourth-seeded Raonic toppled American Tommy Paul 7-6(6), 6-4 on Tuesday in the opening round of the Mexican Open.

The Thornhill, Ont., product needed one hour 49 minutes to take the match against his 51st-ranked opponent at the ATP-500 level tournament.

Raonic was slow to start and never really found any type of rhythm. He doubled faulted 10 times, but also finished with 13 aces to get past Paul.

Next up for Raonic is 71st-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany. 

Meanwhile, Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., had her time at the Monterrey Open in Mexico cut short.

Bouchard was ousted by China’s Zhu Lin 7-5, 7-6(3) in the first round.

The Canadian was hoping to ride her recent momentum after jumping from 144th to 116th in the world rankings by reaching the finals last week at the Guadalajara Open — another W-T-A 250-level tournament. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 16, 2021. 

The Canadian Press