Felix Auger-Aliassime pulled off a miraculous comeback against Alex Molcan to seal his place in the third round of the Australian Open.
The sixth seed came back from behind to the Slovak Alex Molcan in a five-set thriller, winning 3-6, 3-6, 6-3. 6-2, 6-2. He hit 38 winners and served 23 aces in a match that lasted three hours and four minutes on Margaret Court Arena.
The first set stayed on serve until 3-3 when Molcan managed to get the first break of serve of the match and after consolidating the break broke the world number 7 again to win the opener.
The second set was almost the same as the first with Molcan once again getting the crucial break of serve at 3-2 which was enough for him to serve out the second set.
With the Canadian facing a massive upset, the third set was where he turned things around and got his first break of serve at 4-3. Auger-Aliassime was able to serve out the third set to send the match to a fourth.
It was at this stage of the match when Molcan’s game imploded and the number six seed took advantage. Jumping out to a 4-0 lead which was more than enough to set up a deciding fifth set.
With the momentum, the Montreal native continued to control, dominate, and took the game with full control and was able to turn the match on its head.
In the decider, he got the early break for a 3-1 lead and only lost one more game before serving it out to complete the comeback.
“As long as I’m on the court I tried to find a way to win and to give myself chances and to stay longer on the court. today I was able to do it again,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“Of course, you need to be fortunate that the opponent doesn’t play too good and that you just see the match pass by it. So it’s a bit of, of course, strength and resilience, but as well fortunate too. Normally when you are down 2-0 (in sets), you don’t win, so a bit of fortune.”
Auger-Aliassime has set up a third round encounter with Francisco Cerundolo who beat the Frenchman Corentin Moutet in four sets in their first-ever meeting.
Shapovalov marches on
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Elsewhere at the Australian Open, fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov enjoyed a more straightforward route into the last 32. The world No.22 eased past Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-3, 7-6, 7-5 in two hours and 46 minutes on 1573 Arena.
Shapovalov produced a total of 43 winners and nine aces in a match where he controlled the match from start to finish.
The first set stayed on serve until 3-3 when the Toronto native managed to earn a crucial breakpoint set up with his powerful backhand winner and broke to take a 4-3 lead. He won his next service game and broke Daniel again to seal the first set and take an early lead.
The second set was identical to the first with the Canadian breaking again to lead 4-3 and that was enough to take a 2-0 set lead.
The third set was the most competitive in the entire match and it stayed on serve until 6-5 when once again the Canadian earned the crucial break of serve, sealing the match with a forehand winner.
The number 20 seed will now face Polish 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz after he beat the Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a five-set marathon 3-6, 7-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.