Auger-Aliassime cruises past Garin to reach third round in Madrid

Félix Auger-Aliassime comes up big against Cristian Garin of Chile in his second-round match at the Mutua Madrid Open, defeating the world No. 39 in one hour and eight minutes by a score of 6-3, 6-0.

This season has been a bit of a rollercoaster for Auger-Aliassime, as he’s struggled to find his groove in a few of his recent matches. The Canadian, now ranked No. 10 in the world rankings, started the season 15-3 and has since lost seven of his last 12 contests.

Today in Madrid, it was the dominating version of Auger-Aliassime that the Spanish crowd had the pleasure to cheer on. A major part of that success came in his service games, keeping 81 per cent of first serves in play, striking eight aces, and committing zero double faults.

Auger-Aliassime finished the day with 16 winners to only 10 unforced errors.

In the opening set, Auger-Aliassime soared to a 5-1 lead over the world No. 39. It looked like the set was close to wrapping up, but Garin had other plans and broke Auger-Aliassime in the seventh game. The Canadian eventually clinched the opening frame on his second set point opportunity.

Garin’s chance of making a comeback became quickly improbable when he hit a double fault facing an Auger-Aliassime break point in the first game of the second set. Auger-Aliassime then won the next five games, bagelling Garin to close out the match.

Auger-Aliassime will have a tough match up against Jannik Sinner in the round of 16. The two young stars will be facing each other for the very first time with a spot in the quarter-finals on the line.