Félix Auger-Aliassime arrived in Turin as a revived force: feeling confident after a U.S. Open semifinal run, playing some of the best tennis of his career and surging in the world rankings to new highs.
But in Saturday’s semifinals, his hot form wasn’t enough.
Carlos Alcaraz, the world No. 1, dismantled him 6-2, 6-4 in just over an hour and 20 minutes, clinching Alcaraz’s place in the final and setting up a showdown against Jannik Sinner, the world No. 2 and his archrival.
“I felt like I could do everything on court … like everything was going to be in,” the world No. 1 said on court after the match.
Expectations were heavily behind Alcaraz coming into the match on Saturday. He had conceded just one set all week. But Auger-Aliassime, too, arrived with momentum. Just the night before, he outclassed world No. 3 Alexander Zverev in set straights.
Almost immediately, as the match started, Alcaraz’s shot weight pinned the Montrealer under pressure. In Auger-Aliassime’s very first service game, the Spaniard created two break points. He managed to fend them off, but only to be broken on his next serve to go down 1-3.
The Montrealer squandered an opportunity to break back in the following game, before making two more errors, despite controlling the rallies, and allowing the Spaniard to hold.
Indeed, as the first set went on, the Canadian ultimately found it difficult to stay in the rallies without leaking an error.
But in the second, the Montrealer’s improved first-serve placement eased some of the pressure.
At 1-2, 40-0, however, two unforced forehand errors, followed by a double fault, piled the pressure back on. He held his nerve. On the second deuce, a backhand cross-court–forehand volley combo gave him the advantage. A deep forehand then drove the error, to make it two games a piece.
Alcaraz maintained the pressure. At 4-4, he blitzed through his service game to love in one of the quickest games of the evening. Serving to stay in the match, Auger-Aliassime then went down 15-40 to give Alcaraz two match points.
An ace followed — one point saved.
An unforced error then handed the Spaniard the match.
That was a running theme. Auger-Aliassime made 19 unforced errors over the match. That’s nearly double the number Alcaraz made.
The Spaniard will finish the season as world No. 1, but Sunday’s showdown against Sinner, who is also a friend, will still carry weight as they jostle for end-of-season glory.
For Auger-Aliassime, despite the loss, the season concludes with him among the best in the world.
Last January, he was ranked No. 29 in the world. On Monday, he will move inside the top five, which is a career high for him.
And it’s not only a year of tennis milestones.
He also ends the season as a married man.
Write to Harry North at hnorth@postmedia.com
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