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.

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.