New York-Felix auger-aliassime is in the semi-final of the US Open, exactly four years after the first and only time that the 25-year-old Canadian had reached the last four on a Grand Slam tournament.
25th, Auger-Aliass Time disturbing No. 8 Seed Alex de Minauror of Australia 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-6 (4) in Wednesday’s quarterfinals to continue.
He will play the winner of the game at the end of Wednesday between Italians Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Musetti.
“Four years is a long time, even if it is not that long in a lifetime. But 2021 feels like a long ago. I have the feeling that I am a different person,” said Auger-Aliasassime. “With the chance I had to start at the Pro Tour so young, it now tells me, with a second wind, another chance to find myself in the semi -final of a SLAM. And I am only 25.”
It was a match that was not even a memorable definition, even the most charitable definition.
It was infinitely long-four hour and 10 minutes for only four sets, including a second set of 87 minutes. A few flashes of athletic sparkle were overwhelmed by far too many unusual and early errors.
Each player had 11 double mistakes; Auger-Aliassime prevented that with 22 aces, while the Minaur only had eight.
It wasn’t beautiful. It was an absolute rut. But Auger-Aliasassime later said that he was wearing the wise words of tennis legend Rafael Nadal with him at all times and tried to put them into practice.
“I once asked him what the difference was between his career and those of other really good players who didn’t have the same career,” said Auger-Aliassime. “He said it was the opportunity to win matches when he did not play at his best, because it gave him the chance to play better in the next round and to stay alive in the tournament. What you don’t say is:” Today is not my day. It will be better next time. “
“Over the years I have tried to get better with that, and to doubt myself when things are not going great.”
For the Minaur, so often denied in the quarterfinals of Grand Slam tournaments, it would have been the breakthrough that he worked so hard for.
But the first service percentage of the Minaur was only 34 percent in the first set, even if anuger-aliassime did not let him pay the price for that.
It didn’t get much better; The final number was 42 percent. And as the match progressed, that constant pressure to defend his second service down the Minaur.
“In this competition the serve went out of trouble,” said the Minaur. “It’s just that in the big competitions, that is a kind of the first thing to leave. The only thing it does is to create much more pressure on everything else. I play second portions, I am on the back foot, I always have the feeling that I have to do a little more.
“I never expect to serve as Felix-20-Even aces and get free points. But for me the percentage must be much, much higher.”
August-aliassime seemed to be a step slowly, much lower on energy and imagination than he had been in victories at no. 3 Seed Alexander Zverev in the third round and no. 15 seed Andrey Rublev in the fourth round.
“Now that I think about it, the pace was a bit different,” said Auger-Aliassime. “My ball was striking a little less sharp on certain shots, and I was not ahead in the first half of the game. And the quality of my ball was not as good as exactly in the beginning.”
The Canadian was a set and a serve break in the second set when he closed the ball cap he had worn. And, coincidence or not, things turned around.
Auger-Aliassime does not often wear a baldop, unlike certain players for whom the part of the uniform for every match-even at night.
“Maybe it sent a message to the brain that there is something else, without becoming too spiritual about it,” he said laughing.
Despite giving away a whole set of Forehand errors to his opponent in the first two sets – 24 in total – he won that second set in a tiebreak.
And after he had fallen 2-5 in the fourth set, apparently with the game to a fifth and decisive frame, he returned and won another tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime is now 14-4 in Tiebreak at the US Open in his career.
After placing just one win in his three visits to Flushing Meadows since that semi-final of 2021, including a starting loss for Jakub Mensik a year ago, it is a welcome result that wonders does for his ATP Tour ranking.
Auger-Aliassime, whose career high singles ranking of No. 6 came in November 2022, spent the majority of the last two years outside the top 20 and in April 2024 as low as no. 36.
He arrived in this US Open ranked no. 27. From Wednesday his provisional ranking list is number 13, the highest that it has been in more than two years.
Later on Wednesday the Gabriela Dabrowski from Ottawa and the Erin Routliffe from New Zealand went to the final of the women’s doubles with a 6-4, 6-3 semi-final victory over the second Italian duo Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani.
The third placed Dabrowski and Routliffe, which won the US Open in 2023, will be confronted with top seeds Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in Friday’s championship match.
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