Canada’s Milos Raonic loses first-round match to unseeded opponent in Dubai

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Canada’s Milos Raonic lost 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff in a first-round upset at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.

The seventh-seeded Raonic, of Thornhill, Ont., had 15 aces to Struff’s seven and won 82 per cent of first-serve points, but could not overcome his 54th-ranked opponent at the ATP Tour 500, hard-court event.

Raonic, ranked 14th in the world, is 1-2 since returning from a knee injury suffered at the Australian Open in January.

Raonic had won his only previous meeting against Struff — at Wimbledon last year.

Meanwhile, Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is expected to play his first-round match at the Brasil Open against Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas on Tuesday in Sao Paulo. The 18-year-old is coming off a run to the final at the Rio Open.

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On the women’s side, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., is expected to return to action on Tuesday at the Abierto Mexicano TELCEL in Acapulco, Mexico. The 18-year-old will face Swiss wild card Jil Teichmann.

The Canadian Press