Felix Auger-Aliassime was in deep trouble but rallied past Jannik Sinner 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 to reach the quarterfinals. Felix at one stage faced two set points after also being set and a breakdown to Sinner. A huge energy surge during the 2nd set tiebreak ultimately won him the match.
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In the first half of the match, Sinner’s powerful shots and better returning crippled Felix. Jannik closed out the first set easily at 6-2 and was enjoying his game. He failed to win the match after being up a set and 4-2 in the second.
Felix broke back later in the set but faced serious problems at 6-5 when Sinner had match points.
Jannik’s powerful return saw him take control but missed the point when his high forehand stuck into the net. Felix quickly crushed Sinner’s second opportunity with a good combination of serve and forehand. With 6-6 in the second set, a tiebreak ensued.
From this point, Sinner’s game dipped. Felix capitalized on that and found more consistency. He played a flawless tiebreak and won it by 7-1 as his opponent’s game faltered.
From there on it was one-way traffic as Felix broke Sinner’s serve 2 more times in the decider. He won 5 consecutive games to close out the match.
Reactions from Felix Auger-Aliassime after the match
“Jannik was just playing too good. I didn’t have a great start, I was missing a lot. But I just had no time. He was playing so fast, so precise, serving well. For a set and a half, it was just too good,”
Felix Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “That game he broke me in the second, returning on the baseline for three returns in a row, you can’t do much better, so I had to give it to him.
“But at the end, I was still on the court trying to find ways, trying to fight and trying to see how I could make him miss a few more balls and to put myself in a competing position and I did that well… To come back and play that way in the tie-break and the third set, that means a lot to me going forward.”
Felix now leads the ATP H2H 2-0 against Sinner. He earlier beat him 6-1, 6-2 on clay three months ago at the Madrid Open. Felix also consolidated his 6th place in the race to Turin. Sinner on the other hand is 15th and lost the opportunity to make some amends.
“I had to move better after my second serve because you hit a second serve, he plays early and he hits it really hard right at you, so there’s not much you can do. Sometimes it’s too good,” Felix Auger-Aliassime said. “But I had to move my feet a little bit more, start the rally and then see how it goes. I think I did that better.”
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Felix will next play Borna Coric who is enjoying his dream run this week defeating Rafael Nadal and Roberto Bautista Agut.
