Auger-Aliassime Drops Second Friday Match to Draper in Cincinnati

Photo : Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour

Two matches in one day proved too much for Félix Auger-Aliassime on Friday at the Cincinnati Open as he was eliminated by Jack Draper in the third round.

Earlier in the day, the Montrealer had easily dispatched world No. 8 Casper Ruud in a match that had originally been scheduled for Thursday but was postponed due to rain. In his second match against Draper, he struggled to handle the Brit’s big serve and wore down as the match went along, dropping a 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 decision.

The serve was not as effective in the night match as it needed to be when matched up against Draper’s lethal delivery. The Canadian double-faulted a dozen times and only put 52 per cent of his first serves in play. While he did lead the way with 28 winners, he also committed nearly twice as many unforced errors 31 to 16.

Through the first eight games, the servers were able to maintain their advantages relatively unchallenged. Auger-Aliassime faced a bit more pressure, being pushed to deuce in his first two service games but managed to avoid facing a break point.

It was not until 4-4 that a break point was seen. Draper had two looks on the Canadian’s serve but Auger-Aliassime had the answers, saving both including with a brilliant inside-out forehand winner on the second.

When the door opened for Auger-Aliassime, he burst through, converting his lone break point of the set which was also a set point when Draper served to stay in it at 5-6. It was the only break point for Auger-Aliassime in the match.

At 2-2 in the second, the Canadian found himself in a hole too deep to pull out of. He fell behind love-40 and while he hit his way out of the first two break points, he double-faulted to hand Draper the break on the third.

Despite leading love-30 twice on Draper’s serve at 4-3 and 5-4, Auger-Aliassime was unable to solve the Brit’s serve in the second set as Draper pushed the match to a decider.

Again, failure to take advantage of an opening cost Auger-Aliassime in the decider. At 3-2, he had a love-30 look on the Brit’s serve but lost four points in a row. In the following game, he struggled to win points serving on the deuce-side of the court and found himself down break point multiple times. Despite pulling out some spectacular forehands to keep the game going, he was eventually broken.

Draper never gave the Canadian a chance to get back in it, never trailing in his final two service games.

The match did end with some controversy as on Draper’s second match point at 5-4, 40-30, Auger-Aliassime drilled a return into the Brit’s feet as he serve-and-volleyed. The ball struck the frame of Draper’s racquet, hit the ground on Draper’s side of the net, and then bounced over the net.

The chair umpire ruled the ball a winner, which handed the match to the Brit. Despite a lengthy conversation at the net between the umpire and Auger-Aliassime, the Cincinnati Open does not have video review (which clearly would have awarded the point to the Canadian and pushed the game to deuce), and the call stood, ending the match.

Auger-Aliassime will now head to the US Open, where he had his best-ever run at a major in 2021, reaching the semifinals.

Auger-Aliassime Dominates Ruud

Facing the prospect of having to play two matches in one day, Félix Auger-Aliassime could not have asked for a much better first match as he easily brushed aside world No. 8 Casper Ruud in just 67 minutes to reach the third round in Cincinnati.

It was one-way traffic for the Canadian, who broke the Ruud serve early and often on his way to the 6-3, 6-1 win, his second victory in three tournaments over the Norwegian and third of 2024.

Everything was working for Auger-Aliassime in this one, as he had 14 aces and 26 winners to just nine unforced errors. He won 86 per cent of his first serve points and lost just 11 points on serve, while winning more than half the points on Ruud’s delivery, which he broke five times.

Auger-Aliassime wasted no time in seizing the initiative, winning the first three points of the match to set up triple break point on his way to a break in the opening game. He came out firing on his own serve too, dropping a mere six points on his own serve in the first set.

Four of those six points came when Auger-Aliassime was serving for the set and was broken out of nowhere. However, he was up a double break 5-2 at the time and was completely dialed in on return, breaking in the following game to take the set.

Ruud was struggling to find any rhythm on serve and double-faulted away a break in his first service game of the second set. The Canadian took full advantage of the gift, consolidating to love for a 3-0 lead.

There was no stopping the Canadian in the second as it was all Ruud could to hold serve and avoid the bagel in the sixth game having already been broken in his first two service games. But when it was Auger-Aliassime’s turn to try and close out the match, he closed it out with four straight big serves.

Leylah Annie Fernandez is the last Canadian standing in Cincinnati. She defeated Diana Shnaider on Friday to reach the quarter-finals.

Written By

Pete Borkowski