Felix Auger Aliassime has become the first Canadian man to reach the US Open semifinals after beating the world number 55 Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 3-1.
The No.12 seed produced six winners and eight aces during a highly anticipated match between two promising young players that came to an unfortunate end. Just 69 minuites into the match Alcaraz, who had beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier in the tournament, was forced to retire due to an abductor issue.
” I didn’t know he was hurt until he called the physio and I don’t know what happened,” said Auger-Aliassime. “It’s unfortunate and I didn’t see it coming. He’s such a good player and I think we were putting on a good show”.
The first set stayed on serve until 3-2 when the Canadian had four chances to get the first break of serve in the match and it took him four attempts to successfully break the Spaniard serve. Then at 5-3 with Auger-Aliassime serving for the first set he found himself in a bit of a hole down 0-40 but managed to save all three breakpoints and serve out the first set.
The world number 15 kept the momentum into the second and broke in the first game and after consolidating the break. Alcaraz went on to hold serve and called for the physio. One game later the world number 55 decided to retire feeling he couldn’t continue and the 21-year-old booked himself a date with the number two seed Danil Medvedev.
” It’s an amazing milestone and it’s been a fantastic tournament for me,” he said. “Of course it’s a weird ending and in the end, I’m through to play on Friday against one of the best players in the world right now to have a chance to play in my first grand slam final so it’s amazing and I’m happy.”
The triumph of the 21-year-old was the second victory for Canadian tennis at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday after Leylah Fernandez booked her spot in the semi-finals. Illustrating once again how the country has managed to become a tennis powerhouse in recent years. Reacting to the double win for his country, Auger-Aliassime labelled it as a dream come true.
“It‘s great. It’s great for Canada. It’s great for Quebec. We’re both born in Montreal. I never thought a day like this would come. Both a little girl and a little boy from Montreal, both at the same time in the semifinals of the US Open. It’s special.” He said.
“I hope the people back home appreciate the moment also. We do a lot.’
“It’s great. But it would be amazing if we were both in a final, right?”
Auger Aliassime and Medvedev have met only once before and that was back in 2018 at the Rogers Cup in Canada with the Russian winning a tight three-set match. However, a lot has changed since then with the Canadian admitting that he will need to step up his game if he wants to reach the final.
“I need to step up and be confident in myself. I need to serve well. I need to play a great match, be solid from every aspect of my game,” he commented on his next match.
“At the same time I need to try to put pressure on him. But it’s going to be tough. I need to be ready for his best. I need to lace my shoes really well, too, because there’s going to be a lot of running.” He added.
Auger-Aliassime is the youngest male US Open semi-finalist since Juan Martin del Potro back in 2009.
