Auger-Aliassime Carries Momentum to Australian Open, Beats Struff in Opener

Photo : ATP Tour

Two days after lifting his first trophy in almost 15 months, Félix Auger-Aliassime kept the good times going a little further east on the southern Australian Coast as he kicked off his campaign at the Australian Open with a four-set victory over Jan-Lennard Struff on Monday.

The Canadian No. 1 picked up where he left off in Adelaide, riding his serve to a quick two-set lead. Struff was a challenging first-round draw and showed why as he rallied to take the third set, but there was no stopping Auger-Aliassime who dropped the hammer in the fourth to claim a 6-3, 6-0, 4-6, 6-1 win.

It was the type of clean, powerful performance that Auger-Aliassime needs to deliver at the big tournaments as he ripped 47 winners, a dozen more than his opponent and more than double his 23 unforced errors. The serve was clicking as he put 70 per cent of his firsts in play, winning 80 per cent of them, firing 19 aces, and only facing four break points in the match. He also had a good read on the German’s powerful serve, creating 20 break points and converting eight.

Auger-Aliassime did not take long to seize the initiative in the first-round clash. In just the fifth game, he created a pair of break points on the German’s mighty served and Struff missed a backhand on the second to give the Canadian an early advantage, which he consolidated to love.

As was the case often in Adelaide, Auger-Aliassime clamped down on serve once he had a break. He lost just one point on serve in the first set after moving ahead and broke again to close out the set, finishing it off with a nice display of net skills.

The Canadian carried the momentum into the second set, putting Struff under pressure in his first service game. Auger-Aliassime missed a pair of forehands to let a 15-40 opening slip away but after Struff missed a forehand of his own to give the 29^th seed a third chance, Auger-Aliassime put away an impressive tightly-angled smash to take an immediate 2-0 lead.

Set two was one-way traffic for the Canadian. Error after error poured off the German’s racket and Auger-Aliassime was happy to take advantage, breaking twice more and saving the only break point he faced on his own serve with a forehand winner as he took the second set bagel in just 29 minutes.

Struff was able to mount a push down two sets, giving Auger-Aliassime a taste of his own medicine in the third. The German finally solved the Adelaide champion’s serve in the opening game, setting up a break point with a forehand winner and the Canadian proceeded to miss a backhand to surrender the immediate break.

The German managed to ride that break in the first game through the third set, saving all six break points he faced in the set, a couple with aces, including three as he served for it in the 10^th game.

It looked like the comeback was really on when Struff then broke again to start the fourth set but that is where Auger-Aliassime said enough The Canadian broke back in the following game and then struck three straight aces in the following game to hold and effectively crush any momentum the German was building.

Errors were starting to creep back into Struff’s game and a missed backhand in the fourth game on break point handed a 3-1 lead to Auger-Aliassime. Now with the edge, the Canadian went into lockdown mode. He lost just two points the rest of the way, adding another break to close out the set in 30 minutes and punch his ticket to the second round. He won the last six games in a row after being broken to start the fourth set.

Next up for Auger-Aliassime, who has won six matches in a row dating back to the United Cup, will be Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The Canadian has won all three of their previous meetings, including in this same round at Melbourne Park in 2022 in four sets.

Tickets for the Davis Cup Qualifiers 1^st Round tie between Canada and Hungary are now on sale. Join us February 1 and 2 at IGA Stadium in Montreal, as the Canadian team begins their quest for the 2025 Davis Cup Final 8. To access tickets at early-bird pricing, click here.

Written By

Pete Borkowski