Strengthened by the advantage in head-to-head matches gained before today’s match, Felix Auger-Aliassime he had explained that he firmly believed in his chances of winning against Carlos Alcaraz. And instead, the field told a completely different story.
The Canadian did not serve with the performance a tennis player needs to put a champion of Alcaraz’s caliber in difficulty and, starting from the central part of the second set, he also suffered a groin problem and requested a medical time out.
The Spaniard played his match and, without even overdoing it, reached the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the third time in a row, winning with a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. A statistic that will allow him to join a small club populated only by those who have managed to reach the quarterfinals of the Parisian Slam on three occasions even before turning 22.
Club they are members of Bjorn Borg, Rafael Nadal, Mats Wilander, Michael Chang, Andre Agassi, Novak Djokovic And Boris Becker.
Roland Garros – Alcaraz dominates against Auger-Aliassime: he will challenge Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals
Auger-Aliassime actually started the match very well and beat Alcaraz in the opening game by hitting an excellent backhand on the counterattack.
The Canadian didn’t take advantage of the inertia and suffered an immediate counter break by committing three bad free throws. The Spaniard continued to push and Auger-Aliassime, saved in the fourth game, surrendered at 4-3: Alcaraz built with his backhand and closed the net.
It was probably the fourth game that shifted the balance in the second half, because the maximum effort produced by Auger-Aliassime did not receive any reward. In the next game, Alcaraz hypnotized his rival with a magnificent backhand pass on the break point.
Auger-Aliassime required the intervention of a physiotherapist for a groin problem and, after returning from the locker room, he got three chances in a row. The 21-year-old from El Palmar didn’t bat an eyelid and, coming back from 0-40, dealt a great blow to his opponent.
A knockout blow capable of having an impact even in a third set which saw Auger-Aliassime update the scoreboard only once. Alcaraz will face another of the main suspects for winning the title in the quarterfinals, that is Stefanos Tsitsipas.
They advance to the doubles tournament Andrea Vavassori And Simone Bolelli. The blue duo defeated in a complicated match Marcelo Melo And Rafael Matos with a double 7-5. In the round of 16 there will be a difficult challenge against the Australians Jordan Thompson/Max Purcell.
