Showing posts with label Felix Auger-Aliassime. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Felix Auger-Aliassime. Show all posts
Friday, 4 September 2026
'A BIT ABNORMAL': AFTER SHOCK SECOND-ROUND EXIT AT US OPEN, AUGER-ALIASSIME REVEALS HE 'WAS SEEING SPOTS'
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| Felix Auger-Aliassime, of Canada, serves the ball to Karen Khachanov, of Russia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo) |
Karen Khachanov knocked out third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime from the US Open on Thursday, winning 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round.
The Russian, ranked No. 50 in the world, came into the tournament after losing the opening match in all three of his US Open warm-up events.
But he took advantage of an off-colour Auger-Aliassime, whose level dropped as the match went on at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
After the match, Auger-Aliassime said he started feeling unwell during the contest and struggled to recover.
"After a set and a half, I just couldn't feel well and was dizzy and seeing spots and couldn't recover," he said, as quoted by BBC. "I thought maybe it would pass, but it didn't.
"I've never felt quite like that. I've had cramps before. I've felt tired towards the end of matches, but in a normal way.
"This was abnormal a little bit, and there were no signs in the last couple of days and no signs this morning, as well."
The defeat made Auger-Aliassime the highest-ranked player to exit the men's singles draw so far in New York.
Khachanov, who reached the US Open semi-finals in 2022, broke the Canadian's serve seven times during the match. He also saved seven of the nine break points he faced.
The win is only Khachanov's second victory over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam and sends him into the third round in New York.
The result meant Khachanov has now reached the third round of all four Grand Slam tournaments in a single calendar year for the first time.
- Shubhanshu Dwivedi
Thursday, 20 August 2026
Wednesday, 8 July 2026
Monday, 6 July 2026
Thursday, 2 July 2026
Thursday, 18 June 2026
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Saturday, 6 September 2025
JANNIK SINNER SETS UP HISTORIC CARLOS ALCARAZ CLASH IN IS OPEN FINAL
Jannik Sinner has booked his US Open final date with Carlos Alcaraz
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| Jannik Sinner celebrates winning a point against Felix Auger-Aliassime (Image: Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.) |
Jannik Sinner is set to face Carlos Alcaraz in an unprecedented third consecutive Grand Slam final, following a hard-fought victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open.
After Alcaraz dispatched Novak Djokovic with ease, Sinner was put through his paces by Canadian Auger-Aliassime, who was participating in his second Grand Slam semi-final. However, the world number one emerged victorious with a 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 win.
With this triumph, Sinner joins an elite group as only the eighth man ever to reach all four slam finals in a single season and the youngest in the open era. His impressive run of 27 consecutive victories on hard-court at the majors equals Djokovic's record, with only Federer now ahead of him.
Following Alcaraz's win in Paris and Sinner's victory at Wimbledon, the stakes for Sunday's final couldn't be higher. The winner will not only claim supremacy but will also leave New York as the world number one.
Sinner, who stands to win his fifth overall Slam and fourth in the last five Majors, said: "Amazing season, obviously. The grand slams are the most important tournaments and finding myself again in the final, with an amazing crowd, it does not get any better.
"It was a very tough match today but obviously I'm very happy. Let's see what coming. Sunday is going to be a very special occasion. We know each other very well."
Auger-Aliassime, who can now focus on preparations for his forthcoming nuptials, had triumphed in his initial two encounters against Sinner but, when the duo clashed in Cincinnati last month, he secured merely two games.
At first, it seemed this would follow a similar pattern, with the top seed displaying his finest form from the outset and dropping just one game in the opening set.
However, Auger-Aliassime possesses exceptional talent and, whilst he may not have yet fulfilled the tremendous promise he showed as a teenager, at 25, he still has time on his side.
One aspect that will worry Sinner is his serving struggles throughout this tournament, and Auger-Aliassime, whose sole previous Grand Slam semi-final appearance came here four years ago, started to truly capitalise on the Italian's second serve.
Whilst the first semi-final was the glamorous attraction, this proved to be a far superior quality encounter, and Auger-Aliassime struck a brilliant purple patch in the second set that even Sinner couldn't match.
The defending champion extracted himself from trouble in the second game, battling back from 0-40, but Auger-Aliassime was striking powerfully and deeply whilst defending magnificently. Among those soaking up the drama was women's semi-finalist Naomi Osaka, captured on camera in the stands clutching a Honey Deuce cocktail, and when Sinner found himself trailing 0-40 once more at 3-4, Auger-Aliassime pounced on his chance before wrapping up the set with a pair of aces.
Sinner's woes extended beyond the scoreline, with the 24-year-old departing the court for a medical timeout, seemingly troubled by an abdominal issue.
The burning question remained whether Auger-Aliassime could sustain his blistering form, and the response came halfway through the third set when mistakes began infiltrating his play and Sinner capitalised with a break for a 4-2 advantage.
The gruelling nature of the battle appeared to be taking its toll, with Auger-Aliassime looking laboured in his movement as Sinner closed out the set.
The Canadian seized the chance to leave the court for a comfort break and emerged rejuvenated.
Had Sinner's desperate backhand at break point in the fourth game of the fourth set not clipped the edge of the line – leaving his rival utterly stunned – the match might have unfolded very differently, but the top seed weathered the storm, secured a break in the following game and sealed another triumph.
Speaking about the fitness scare, Sinner explained: "I just felt a small twitching after a serve when I served there in the second set on 4-3. After the treatment, was feeling much, much better.
"At some point I didn't feel anything anymore. I was serving back to normal pace, so it was all good. Nothing to worry about."
- PA
Thursday, 4 September 2025
Sunday, 17 August 2025
Saturday, 3 August 2024
NOVAK DJOKOVIC NOT SLOWED BY KNEE, REACHES 1ST OLYMPIC SINGLES FINAL
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| Novak Djokovic, whose best medal to date for Serbia was a bronze in 2008, dropped to the clay after securing a spot in Sunday’s Olympic men's singles final. "This," he said after beating Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2, "is a big deal." Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images |
PARIS -- When Novak Djokovic's first berth in an Olympics tennis final was secured, when he was assured of a chance to win the gold medal that's missing from his lengthy list of accomplishments, he fell back on the clay, limbs spread apart -- the sort of pose generally reserved for securing a championship.
"This," he said after beating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-4, 6-2 by taking the last four games, "is a big deal."
Already the owner of a men's-record 24 Grand Slam titles and the most weeks at No. 1 in the rankings in tennis history, Djokovic will try to add to his legacy when he faces Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday in the men's singles title match.
Alcaraz was even more dominant in Friday's semifinals, eliminating Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 6-1, 6-1.
Djokovic is 37, which makes him the oldest man to play in a Summer Games tennis final. Alcaraz is 21, which makes him the youngest.
"The way he's playing, he's definitely a favorite," Djokovic said.
Djokovic's best medal to date for Serbia was a bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games. Now he'll do no worse than a silver.
"Just to secure a higher medal for the first time for my country, whatever happens on Sunday, is a huge, obviously pride and honor and happiness -- and that's why I celebrated the way I did," he said. "I still need to celebrate, because it's a big success, of course."
Was Musetti surprised to see the way Djokovic reacted?
"I know how much it means for 'Nole' to win a gold, to win a medal, of course," Musetti replied, using Djokovic's nickname. "So, no, absolutely not."
The final will be a rematch of the past two Wimbledon finals, each won by Alcaraz, including the one just three weeks ago.
"It's always really difficult facing Novak, in every round," Alcaraz said. "It doesn't matter if it's the first round or final."
The Spaniard has four Grand Slam titles, another one of which came in June at the French Open, the clay-court tournament held at Roland Garros, also the site for Olympics tennis this year.
Djokovic got injured during the French Open, tearing the meniscus in his right knee and having surgery June 5. He felt what he described as "sharp pain" while getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals Thursday night, but he seemed fine -- and said he was -- against Musetti after a lot of work with his physiotherapist to prepare.
"It didn't bother me at all" Friday, Djokovic said, "so I'm really glad there's nothing serious about it."
He acknowledged feeling nervy and seemed that way, bothered by things such as the wind or the footing or the chair umpire calling him twice for time violations and then warning him for an audible obscenity. Over and over, Djokovic gestured at his team up in the stands, muttering or even yelling.
But his tennis was on point other than when he got broken to begin the second set. Even then, he quickly regrouped.
"He deserved to win," said Musetti, who also lost to Djokovic at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2024.
Djokovic came into Friday 0-3 in Olympic semifinals, losing to the eventual champion each time: Rafael Nadal (Beijing), Andy Murray (London) and Alexander Zverev (Tokyo). Djokovic mentioned that "hurdle" repeatedly the other day and again Friday night.
Djokovic has spoken often about how much it means to him to represent his country and how much he wishes he could do better than his bronze in 2008.
Alcaraz is about a month younger than Vincent Richards of the U.S. was when he claimed the gold in Paris in 1924.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- ESPN News Services
Friday, 2 August 2024
DOMINANT CARLOS ALCARAZ CRUISES INTO OLYMPIC MEN'S TENNIS FINAL
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| ATP Staff |
PARIS -- Carlos Alcaraz moved one win away from becoming the youngest man to win an Olympic tennis singles gold medal by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-1, 6-1 in the Paris Games semifinals Friday.
Alcaraz, 21, is from Spain and already owns four Grand Slam titles -- including in June at Roland Garros, the clay-court facility being used for tennis at the 2024 Games -- and is about a month younger than Vincent Richards of the U.S. was when he claimed the gold in Paris in 1924.
With dozens of spectators waving red-and-yellow Spanish flags at Court Philippe Chatrier or yelling "Vamos, Carlos!" on a cloudy afternoon -- and a soundtrack provided during breaks in the action by a brass band in the stands -- Alcaraz was dominant and never faced a break point.
He won the point on 10 of 11 trips to the net. He made just 13 unforced errors, 10 fewer than Auger-Aliassime, who also lost to Alcaraz at this year's French Open.
"I just couldn't find a way to be comfortable in any pattern, any position. Whether it was trying to dominate the forehand cross-court or change of direction, the forehand inside-out, the backhand side," Auger-Aliassime said. "Every aspect. The movement. The defense. I was dominated."
Auger-Aliassime is a 23-year-old Canadian whose best showing at a major tournament was a semifinal appearance at the 2021 US Open. Auger-Aliassime made it to that round back then when Alcaraz, just 18 at the time, stopped playing in the second set of their quarterfinal because of an injured leg muscle.
"He's improved a lot, every time we've played," said Auger-Aliassime, who beat Alcaraz in each of their first three head-to-head contests but now has lost the four since, all in straight sets. "I don't have the solutions right now."
The Alcaraz on display during his Olympics debut is a much more finished product, someone who has won 12 consecutive matches at Roland Garros and collected a second consecutive title at Wimbledon last month, too.
Alcaraz defeated 24-time Slam champion Novak Djokovic in both of those finals at the All England Club, and there could be a rematch for the men's gold on Sunday. That's because Djokovic, a 37-year-old from Serbia, was scheduled to face Lorenzo Musetti of Italy in Friday's second Olympic semifinal.
It was unclear how fit Djokovic would be for that match, because he felt what he described as "sharp pain" in his surgically repaired right knee while getting past Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarterfinals Thursday night. Musetti eliminated Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Alexander Zverev.
The women's singles final is Saturday, with Zheng Qinwen of China playing against Donna Vekic of Croatia.
Iga Swiatek of Poland defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia Friday to win the bronze medal..
In the men's doubles semifinals Friday, Matt Ebden and John Peers of Australia defeated Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul of the United States 7-5, 6-2. They will go up against another American duo, fourth-seeded Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram, for the gold.
In women's doubles, Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy advanced to the gold medal match with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova of Czechia.
- Associated Press
Friday, 19 July 2024
Monday, 11 March 2024
ALCARAZ, SWIATEK ADVANCE AT INDIAN WELLS
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| USA TODAY Sports |
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz moved into the fourth round at Indian Wells on Sunday with a 6-2 6-3 win over Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Third seed Jannik Sinner also advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff while 11th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat home hope Frances Tiafoe 6-3 6-3.
In the women's draw, world number one Iga Swiatek powered past Czech Linda Noskova 6-4 6-0.
Spaniard Alcaraz, who next plays Fabian Marozsan, said one of the keys to defending his title was to put the previous year's victory out of his mind.
"I think the first thing that you have to do if you want to defend the title is you forget about you won the title last year," said the 20-year-old.
"It's about being yourself, being at 100% every day if you want to do a good results here".
Alcaraz also said the ankle injury which forced him to withdraw from the Rio Open last month was not an issue during his matches.
"I'm not going to say I forget about it, but in matches, I forget all about it," he added. "I'm moving very well. I don't think about the ankle in matches, in training. But off the court, of course, I have to take care of it."
- Reuters
Tuesday, 16 January 2024
Saturday, 28 October 2023
Thursday, 16 March 2023
Thursday, 9 March 2023
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