Adam Walton and James Duckworth have given the Australian men a winning start at the Canadian Open as Alexei Popyrin prepares to defend the Masters 1000 title he famously won last year.
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See subscription optionsWalton rallied to beat Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 4-6 6-0 6-3 in their first-round clash in Toronto on Monday (AEST).
His reward is a second-round match up with top seeded Aexander Zverev, who had a first-round bye.
Qualifier Duckworth beat China's Shang Juncheng 6-3 7-6 (7-3) and next meets third seed Lorenzo Musetti.
Meanwhile, 18th seed Popyrin enjoyed a first-round bye before he faces 638th-ranked Canadian wild card Nicolas Arseneault in his first match.
Popyrin is defending the title he won last year in Montreal when he downed Andrey Rublev in the final to become the first Australian winner of a Masters 1000 title since Lleyton Hewitt 21 years earlier.
He followed that breakthrough by claiming the scalp of Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open before falling to Francis Tiafoe in the round of 16.
However, it has not been easy going for Popyrin in recent weeks after he followed a first-round exit at Wimbledon with another first-up defeat in Washington, losing to China's lowly-ranked Wu Yibing in three sets.
In the Canadian Open women's draw, Australia's Kimberley Birrell suffered a first-round loss to Canada's Victoria Mboko 7-5 6-3.
Australian Associated Press
