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FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York – Félix Auger-Aliassime knows he’s respected in the locker room as a person.
But one of the things he plays for – most players do, he says – is to be respected as a player.
“I’m a bit torn because on one hand, I’m in the fourth round. I’ve already been in that position and I want to go even further. So the tournament goes on. But on the other hand, It’s a very satisfying victory because (Alexander Zverev) is a player I’ve had trouble with in the past. I play to win, and I also to be respected as a tennis player,” Auger-Aliassime said after an impressive 4-6, 7-6 (7), 6-4, 6-4 win over the No. 3 seed.
“It’s what I do every day, it’s my profession. I think there’s a part of me that’s fighting for that, in matches like this,” he added. “It’s like, ‘Okay, you think what you think. But I know my value. And I want to prove it to people.’ So matches like this allow me to send a message – that I’m here. I haven’t abandoned my project. I’m still here, and I hope it’ll continue.”
Zverev, who was 6-2 against Auger-Aliassime coming in but had struggled, he said afterward, to feel the ball in this tournament much in the same way he struggled last year, may have given Auger-Aliassime a little bit of bulletin-board material when he spoke after his second-round win.
“I think we played quite a few times. You know, (Auger-Aliassime) is somebody that when he plays well, he plays really well. When he doesn’t play well, he really doesn’t play well. So he’s in the third round. That means he’s playing well,” Zverev said.
Auger-Aliassime took notes.
“When you had the adolescence that I had, and the level I produced when I was young – and then you have difficulties – of course people say that,” he said of the Zverev comments with just a HINT of a smirk. “But it’s not just him. Other players say it too. Between players, we all play that game a little bit, we all fight for people to respect our name.“
Flawless, says FAA
During his on-court interview right after the match, Auger-Aliassime acknowledged the lucky let cord that gave him the second-set tiebreak. And he acknowledged some early jitters.
He was one point away from going down two sets to none, at 6-5 in that second-set tiebreak.
But beyond that …
“It was a nervous start, the first few games, and after that it was pretty crazy, pretty flawless. I got a bit lucky in the tiebreak. But with the way I played in the third and fourth, whatever happened in the second set I was giving myself a chance,” he said. “I was seeing it big today, and I was feeling good on the court, for sure.”
The last time Auger-Aliassime beat a top-10 player at a Grand Slam was that five-set win over Zverev at Wimbledon, four years ago. And as Zverev is currently No. 3, it’s the first time he’s beaten a top-five player at a major.
And that it was Zverev, against whom he’s had trouble winning sets, much less matches, made it all the sweeter.
It’s the first time since the 2023 Australian Open that Auger-Aliassime has made the second week of a hard-court major.
Not a great matchup
Tennis is a game of matchups. And Zverev, typically, is not a good matchup for Auger-Aliassime.
With Zverev’s backhand his premium shot and the majority of Auger-Aliassime’s groundstrokes (his inside-out forehand, and his overwhelmingly crosscourt backhand) going right into that strength, it’s a huge challenge for the Canadian to get on top of the rallies.
But on this night, he did.
Auger-Aliassime served well. He was impressive at the net. He returned as well as he has in, well, an era. He kept the errors down. His topspin backhand held up, while Zverev’s did not. And he mixed in enough slice to rob Zverev of what he prefers: rhythm.
“Sure, it’s not a secret. A lot of players do that against him. He’s a player who’s excellent when he gets some rhythm. He’s a bit of a metronome. And of course I don’t want to get stuck in backhand-to-backhand exchanges,” he said. “The goal was to have variation so that maybe the next shot I get a forehand, or it slows the game a bit and then I can hit fast again. It worked pretty well a lot of times. I’m happy I decided to put that plan in place, and that I executed it well.”
Rublev up next
Next up is No. 15 seed Andrey Rublev, for a shot at the quarterfinals.
Rublev, whose ranking also has fallen some in the last couple of years, needed five sets to get past young qualifier Coleman Wong earlier on Saturday.
The Russian is 7-1 against Auger-Aliassime, who has beaten him only once – in the semifinals of his first career ATP Tour title in Rotterdam.
But other than their most recent match on the Hamburg clay this spring, it’s always been tight. “Several times I was a break up in the third set,” Auger-Aliassime said. “But this will be a first time in a Grand Slam. So of course I believe in my chances.”
In the meantime, the post-victory celebration moves already are going around the web.
“There was a lot of noise. It’s not something you can reproduce elsewhere, But in New York, at night, it’s something you can do, to have fun with the fans like that,” he said.
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Excellente ‘rétrospective’ sur les débuts de Félix qui me rappelle que j’avais vu un de ses matchs à La Sportheque à Gatineau. De fait Félix s’était réchauffé sur le vélo à côté de moi pendant que je faisais mon conditionnement physique. Je l’avais reconnu lorsque Shapo était venu lui parler….Cette semaine, Félix m’a fait oublier toutes les fois que j’étais frustré de voir qu’il n’arrivait pas à gagner des parties ou des matchs qu’il aurait dû gagner, surtout en finales.
Fantastic win for Felix! I think that is the best I have ever seen him play. Hope he can keep it up against Lehecka.
I was very disappointed in Shapo. Sinner was ripe for the taking, & Shapo had so many chances to do it, & he didn’t. It seems like he still lacks maturity on the court. He was playing pretty well, & then had a hissy fit after his coach told him to throw his service toss higher. His level of play dropped after that, & gave Sinner the chance to gain in confidence, & raise his game. A real opportunity lost, I think.
Definitely not the best match he’s ever played. He had a lot of help from a very sub-par Zverev and he went for it.
So a lot of all that had to do with his opponent. But the best he’s played in awhile, for sure.
Sinner is No. 1. Was he ripe? Maybe for a set. MAYBE for two. But winning a best-of-five – three sets won – against that guy is something very few people can do. Would have been fun to see him go up 2-0 in sets and see if Sinner could catch him. Sinner is just better.He might have a dip here and there but it’s literally not about how well Shapovalov plays or doesn’t play. Similar to Felix v Zverev. Tennis is unique in that even if fans often pay most attention to their favorite in a match, the reality is that there are two guys out there and in few other sports does your performance depend SO much on what your opponent is and does.
FAA is not playing Lehecka, though. He will play Andrey Rublev.