Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
For the second year in a row at the Australian Open, Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second week.
The 21-year-old Canadian, the No. 9 seed, swiftly dispatched No. 24 seed Dan Evans 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 Saturday to move into the round of 16.
On Monday, he'll play No. 27 seed Marin Cilic for a spot in the quarterfinals. Cilic knocked off No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.
This is the fourth time in his last five Grand Slam appearances that Auger-Aliassime has reached the second week. That includes a semifinal effort at the US Open last September, and a Wimbledon quarterfinal last July.
It's starting to feel like familiar territory.
"It's like everything in life. When you break new ground you don't feel, let's say, as comfortable, or you kind of feel out of your comfort zone. Now, of course, playing more and more Grand Slams and (having gone) to the semifinals, I feel more in my place," Auger-Aliassime said.
The 21-year-old survived gruelling matches in his first two rounds at Melbourne Park. He was down two sets to one, and needed three hours, 40 minutes to get past Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round on Tuesday.
Two days later, it took him four hours and 20 minutes to play four tiebreaks against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain. Auger-Aliassime won three of them, and prevailed largely on the strength of a great serving day.
Evans posed a different challenge.
The 31-year-old Brit put a 6-2, 6-3 beatdown on Auger-Aliassime at Melbourne Park a year ago in the final of a tune-up tournament, just before the Australian Open. It was Auger-Aliassime's seventh unsuccessful tournament final (he has since added an eighth).
And it was the first career ATP Tour title for Evans, then 30.
A year later, even if he still is in search of that first title, the Canadian's maturation is evident.
In a far more high-profile situation, he produced a far more positive outcome.
"I didn't have the attitude I needed (last year). I didn't have the desire. I didn't serve as well. My level of play, the person I was then probably has nothing to do with who I am today," Auger-Aliassime said of that final. "Today I'm more stable mentally. I know what I want to do on the court. I'm prepared to face different situations.
"And today, things went well for me. I served well from beginning to end. A close first set, but after that, two good sets. Can't ask for more," he added.
The statistics for Saturday's win were sterling. The Canadian blasted 16 aces and double-faulted just three times.
He hit 40 winners, and made just 21 unforced errors.
"Twice as many winners as errors is a very good ratio. As a player if you can stay in that zone where you can really strike, hurt the opponent, but all the while keeping the errors to a minimum -- that's the ideal," he said.
Notably, Auger-Aliassime had already saved two break point chances on his serve before earning his first on Evans's serve, at 4-5 in the first set.
Evans came forward and butchered a swing volley into the net, handing the Canadian the first set.
Auger-Aliassime broke again early in the second set, after the Brit double-faulted on break point.
He broke Evans four more times -- six times in all, on seven break opportunities. He was done by 7 p.m., with his next opponent playing late into Saturday night, Auger-Aliassime wrapped up the victory in one hour, 53 minutes.
As with his win over Davidovich Fokina, the serve was the key.
"When you can be consistent on your service games and win a lot of free points, it takes a lot of pressure off," he said.
Evans admitted afterwards that he didn't handle the extra time off, in the wake of a walkover given to him by second-round opponent Arthur Rinderknech of France, very well.
It gave him too much time to think, knowing he had beaten Auger-Aliassime before and getting a little ahead of himself.
"I thought about the match quite a lot and, yeah, probably overthought it. To be honest, he was obviously way better than me as well (Saturday). I missed my chance (at 4-4 in the first set) and I panicked a bit. That happens in tennis," said Evans, who added that Auger-Aliassime is an excellent front-runner.
The Canadian's next opponent is a former Australian Open finalist.
In 2018, Cilic defeated Rafael Nadal in five sets in the quarterfinals, then lost to Roger Federer in five sets in the final.
The 33-year-old Croat played his first Australian Open in 2007, when Auger-Aliassime was six years old.
Cilic is 3-0 against Auger-Aliassime. The most recent victory was in the Canadian's eighth ATP Tour final, on grass in Stuttgart, Germany last June.
On Sunday (11 p.m. Saturday ET), Auger-Aliassime's countryman Denis Shapovalov will meet No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev, with the winner going to the quarterfinals.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2022.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
The current overall public health risk posed by the H5N1 bird flu virus is low, the World Health Organization said on Friday, but urged countries to stay alert for cases of animal-to-human transmission.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
An idyllic 453-acre private island is up for sale off the west coast of Scotland and it comes with sandy beaches, puffins galore, seven houses, a pub, a helipad and a flock of black-faced sheep.
An investigation is underway after a Regina police officer was accidentally shot by a fellow officer’s gun during the search of a house early Friday morning.
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.