Félix Auger-Aliassime’s beautiful tennis flew in the wind that swept through on a central Wednesday morning in Toronto. Unable to adapt to the playing conditions, Quebec lost 7-5, 6-4 to Serbian Dusan Lajovic, 44NS worldwide.
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“From the beginning, I felt that the playing conditions would not be easy,” said the ninth candidate after losing. It was windy and balls were flying off my racket. ”
Much to the disappointment of Felix Auger-Aliassime who appeared before reporters about an hour after he was shown the door in his first match in front of his supporters.
With his ranked position, he enjoyed a pass to the opening round.
The disappointment is even stronger because this defeat is added to those who suffered in the first round at the Tokyo Olympics, against Australian Max Purcell, then 198NS world, and in his second match in Washington against American Jenson Broxby, then 130NS.
“It’s not easy [de perdre], especially here, the 21-year-old Quebec regretted. I want to win every week, and I wanted to play well here. I felt ready. “
a lot of mistakes
Of course, on the tennis court, the conditions are the same for both opponents. Lajovic, didn’t seem to be bothered by the wind, while Felix doubled down on easy fouls. Only in the first round, he committed 19.
“If I look at the match statistics, I think I had my chance in the second set. I could have done a better job and get the break, giving myself the opportunity to take the meeting in three sets,” they agreed on 16NS worldwide.
Chances of breaking the Auger Eliassim were rare. He failed to convert the only two offers offered by Lajovic. Then, while serving, at 2-1 in the second set, Felix made another costly unforced error, allowing the 31-year-old Serb to slip away with his serve… and take victory.
Tired, but not nervous
Photo by AFP
Felix Auger-Aliassime left Central Stadium in Toronto on Wednesday after losing to Dusan Lajovic, a player below him.
Le Québécois n’a pas seulement mis sa défaite sur le dos des conditions de jeu. Il se dit aussi fatigué après son parcours jusqu’en quarts de finale à Wimbledon, le mois dernier, et l’excitation de sa première participation aux Jeux olympiques, two weeks ago.
“I’m a little tired. It was a great experience going to the Games. But the Olympic year is different. Normally I’d rest after Wimbledon, and I arrived in North America rested, ready for a fresh start.”
While he was feeling a little nervous as tournaments to be played on Canadian soil approached, Felix says that was not the case this time.
“On the contrary, I felt motivated. The crowd helped me a lot at times.”
rest now
Quebecers will now set their sights on the Cincinnati Masters, which takes place next week.
So he believed that he would be able to draw some positivity out of this hasty defeat in front of his family.
“I’m going to have a few days to rest and train. It’s the same every time. It’s great to get to the tournaments away for sure. But when that doesn’t happen, I try to take my time to prepare for the next event. That’s what I’m going to do again this time.”
