Felix Auger-Aliassime enjoyed an incredible campaign at the US Open, recording his joint-best finish at a Grand Slam.
The Canadian battled past world number three Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev, and Alex de Minaur to reach the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the second time in his career.
In the final four, Auger-Aliassime ultimately lost to Jannik Sinner and was one of three players to take a set off the Italian across the entire tournament.
Despite the defeat, his performance in New York was significantly better than his showing against Sinner at the Cincinnati Open two weeks prior, in which he won just two games.
Felix Auger-Aliassime recalls his US Open tie with Jannik Sinner
Recalling the heavy loss to the world number two at the ATP Masters 1000 event on the ‘Changover Podcast’, Auger-Aliassime said: “In Cincy, the two weeks before, I don’t think I was ready enough, at least in terms of my tactical plan.
“I didn’t even watch the Cincy match back, to be honest, I didn’t watch that again. I’m not gonna hurt myself watching this.
“But having that experience, knowing what pace he played at and what intensity, I think I was more prepared [for the US Open match].
“I really wanted to match that from the beginning because I wasn’t really matching that in Cincy at all.”
In their match at the US Open, Sinner took the opening set in dominant fashion, winning 6-1 to draw first blood.
“He came out so clean,” said Auger Aliassime. “Like, I don’t know anybody [that does that]. If you watch matches, he breaks [in the] first game of the match.
“I don’t remember watching some of the greats, even; they wouldn’t start off like that.
“As the match goes on, obviously, I feel like Rafa and Novak, it was always like they got so good as the matches went on, but with him, he starts the match like it’s normal, with no tension whatsoever.”
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s head-to-head record with Jannik Sinner
Before their match at the Cincinnati Open, Auger-Aliassime had never lost to Sinner at a tour-level competition.
He won all of their first three ATP meetings, emerging triumphant in their clashes in both Madrid and Cincinnati in 2022.
They were scheduled to play in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Madrid Open, but Sinner withdrew due to injury.
Now, the two stars are competing at the Shanghai Masters, but could only meet for a fifth time if they both advance to the final.
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