Zverev, Auger-Aliassime exit Montreal Masters

The ATP Montreal Masters lost its top two seeds in the space of a few hours on Wednesday, as Germany's Alexander Zverev and Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime both exited the field.

Top seed and world No 3 Zverev, this year's French Open champion and Wimbledon runner-up, was toppled by Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, who rallied for a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4 second-round upset.

"I didn't expect to play well," Zverev said. "I also didn't expect to play this badly, to be honest."

Montreal native Auger-Aliassime had to withdraw before his scheduled night match after injuring his back during training on Monday.

"It was quite sudden. I was training here for two weeks and I had zero problems," Auger-Aliassime said. "Just the timing is tough.

"I thought that, day-by-day, things would get better, but I tried to go on court today, I tried to warm up, and then I basically couldn't really serve, so it was impossible for me to think about even competing."

Joining his fellow elites on the sidelines was fourth seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 champion, who went out 6-3, 7-6 (5) to Botic Van de Zandschulp, another Dutch spoiler.

Medvedev missed out on achieving his 100th career victory at the Masters level as he lost in his Canada opener, weighed down by 40 unforced errors.

Tournament officials were already fuming at an event in which world No 1 Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic were both high-profile absentees even before the start.

"I'm not going to lie, we were hoping that Felix was going to win at least a few matches," tournament director Valerie Tetreault said.

"He's definitely the player everybody was talking about, and people wanted to know when he was going to play."

Zverev was competing for the first time since his Wimbledon final loss to Sinner and began to fade in the second set against world No 69 Griekspoor.

"This was probably the worst match of the season," Zverev said. "This one was up there as the worst.

"Tennis comes with ups and downs. I'm very happy with how the last couple of months were. Now, it's about getting back to that form."

The Dutch winner came within a point of a 5-2 lead in the third set, but found himself square at 4-all as he lost serve.

But the underdog broke the seed straight back and served out the match in one of his biggest victories a game later.

"This is one of the most special wins I've ever had," he said. "I've had a tough season. I was close to throwing in the towel a few times. But I've been working harder in practice and reaching a good level.

"I felt it was about time for a big win."

Seeds advance in Toronto

Second seed Elena Rybakina, third seed Jessica Pegula and fourth-seeded Coco Gauff all advanced to the third round of the WTA1000 tournament in Toronto on Wednesday.

Australian Open champion Rybakina, of Kazakhstan, began her hard-court run ahead of the US Open by outlasting Australian Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in two hours and 33 minutes. World No 2 Rybakina began the match by hitting six consecutive winners, but also made 58 unforced errors.

"I want to see better serves, the percentage," Rybakina said after coughing up 16 double faults against 15 aces.

"Today, in key moments it worked, but still the percentage is quite low.

"I'm still adapting a bit to the jet lag and everything, so maybe my energy level could be better."

Rybakina hit back-to-back double faults to drop the second set and three double faults while serving for the match, before advancing to face 28th-seeded American Ann Li, who eliminated Canadian wildcard Kayla Cross 7-6 (2), 6-3.

"For the first match, it wasn't too bad, but of course I want to improve," Rybakina said.

Pegula, who lost a rain-delayed final in Washington on Monday, was also extended in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win over Poland's Magdalena Frech.

"I was just happy with the way I was able to mentally stay in there," said Pegula, who also beat Frech in the second round in Washington a week ago.

"It was more of a mental battle, figuring out what to do and not get too frustrated. Having to face an opponent like that back-to-back is never easy, especially with a quick turnaround this week."

Pegula will next face Uzbekistan's Kamilla Rakhimova, whose opponent Katerina Siniakova retired when trailing 6-7 (1), 6-0, 5-2.

Two-time Grand Slam winner Gauff cruised into the third round by dispatching fellow American Kayla Day 6-2, 7-5.

"The goal is to peak at the US Open, so I know maybe this first week I'm not going to be feeling 100 percent," said Gauff, who will face Greece's Maria Sakkari next.

"I feel like, by tomorrow, I'll be good. I think it was just a long couple of weeks for me training."

Russian world No 5 and French Open champion, Mirra Andreeva, cruised past the Czech Republic's Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-2.