National Bank Open: Felix Auger-Aliassime eliminated

MONTREAL –

Felix Auger-Aliassime stood in the back of the IGA Stadium hardcourt with one hand on his hip and a glance of astonishment on his face.

Casper Ruud managed to get his racket on an overhead smash late in Friday’s quarterfinal towards the Canadian, the return floating over Auger-Aliassime’s head and contained in the baseline.

Auger-Aliassime scrambled again however his shot discovered the online. Nothing was working for him on this present day – not even the tennis equal of a slam dunk – in a 6-1, 6-2 rout that lasted simply 74 minutes.

“(My) first two matches had been good, some constructive issues,” Auger-Aliassime stated. “I by no means thought it might be ending like this in the present day.”

The sixth-seeded Auger-Aliassime entered play with out dropping a set this week however he got here out flat on an overcast afternoon. Ruud, the No. 4 seed from Norway, wrapped up the primary set in a brisk 36 minutes and took the partisan crowd out of the match.

Auger-Aliassime, from Montreal, made 21 unforced errors to only eight for Ruud, who superior to his third Masters 1000 semifinal of the season.

“It was an ideal day for me on the workplace,” Ruud stated.

Ruud who will subsequent play No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-1 winner over Nick Kyrgios.

Auger-Aliassime hoped to turn out to be the primary Canadian to achieve the semifinals at this ATP Tour occasion since Denis Shapovalov in 2017. The final Canadian to win this event was Robert Bedard in 1958.

“It is tremendous disappointing to lose any event like this and particularly right here,” Auger-Aliassime stated.

Unseeded gamers had been scheduled to play within the night quarterfinals. American Tommy Paul was to face Britain’s Daniel Evans and Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta was to satisfy British qualifier Jack Draper.

Auger-Aliassime could not get on observe regardless of common urging from the near-capacity crowd. He was shanking extra photographs than regular and his errors got here at important occasions.

With a robust forehand and efficient two-handed backhand, Ruud was scientific in his assault and relentless with stress. Auger-Aliassime was pressured to his heels and needed to accept a defensive type.

The Canadian gave up two fast breaks within the second set earlier than lastly holding serve to get to 1-4.

“To straight away lose my service sport, then one other one … from three-love it actually felt just like the worst attainable final result in the present day,” Auger-Aliassime stated. “At that time it will get actually powerful.

“I attempted my finest, however he was additionally getting increasingly comfy and assured, so then issues get way more troublesome.”

Earlier within the day, Hurkacz took benefit of two double-faults by Kyrgios early within the third set for the primary service break of their match. He rolled from there to finish the Australian’s nine-match successful streak.

“Nick is a brilliant opponent, he could make each single shot,” Hurkacz stated. “He would not actually have that many weaknesses, if any. I used to be simply making an attempt to serve (effectively) and keep aggressive.”

There was no wasted power from Kyrgios, who performed like he had a cab ready exterior the venue.

He’d normally bounce the ball simply as soon as and go proper into his service movement. The tempo of play agreed with Hurkacz, a six-foot-five right-hander who matched the Australian’s energy sport.

Each gamers had break alternatives however tiebreakers had been wanted to settle the primary two units.

Kyrgios, who dispatched defending champ and world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev within the second spherical, slowed within the third set and his serve misplaced a few of its zip.

“I am not a machine, I am a human,” Kyrgios stated. “My knees had been sore, my again was sore, my belly (space) was sore. I used to be making an attempt to remain shifting, however I simply stiffened up.”

Kyrgios entered play with wins in 15 of his final 16 matches, with the one defeat coming to Novak Djokovic in final month’s Wimbledon remaining.

The semifinals are set for Saturday and the ultimate of the US$6.57-million event goes Sunday. The winner will earn simply over $915,000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Aug. 12, 2022.