Alex de Minaur and Felix Auger-Aliasassime will give up in their career for the sixth time when they collide in the quarter-finals of the US Open on Wednesday afternoon.
Auger-Aliassime leads the head-to-head series 3-2 general and 2-1 on the main tour, and he has taken eight of their 12 total sets. The Canadian rode 6-3, 6-2 on the Cincinnati Masters 2022 and 6-3, 6-4 a few months later in the Davis Cup final. The Minaur won their most recent meeting 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 last spring in Rome. He has never defeated Auger-Aliassy on a different surface than clay.
A relatively fast hard court should again present Auger-Aliassime with a fantastic opportunity. The World No. 27 is already an American open semi-finalist (2021) and he is also a quarter-finalist with the other two Non-Clay Majors (2021 Wimbledon and 2022 Australian Open). Auger-Aliassime is back in the last eight at Flushing Meadows thanks to victories over Billy Harris, Roman Safiullin, Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev. The 25-year-old was especially impressive in a 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 upset by Zverev and a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Andrey Rublev.
Speaking of Rublev, the Minaur is halfway through the Russian 0-10 lifetime record in the quarterfinals of Grand Slam. The eighth Aussie is 0-5 lifespan in these situations, including 0-2 at the US Open. The Minaur, the Washington champion earlier this summer, gave himself a chance after victories over Christopher O’Connell, Shintaro Mochizuki, Daniel Altmaier and Leandro Riedi. It was a shockingly simple path with only one opponent in the top 80 and none in the top 50.
A quarter-final-equal game against Auger-Aliassime is certainly not bad, but the former world no. 6 is still a huge step in the match level for the Minaur. And as their history in the past suggests against each other, Auger-Aliassime dictates the outcome of this competition. He touches the ball much larger than the minaur and plays more aggressive tennis.
Although the Minaur deserves a living to let opponents beat himself, this is just a match that will win Auger-Aliassime if he plays well. At the moment the number 25 seed is playing great – and especially he plays with confidence.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 4
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