Félix Auger-Aliassime was unable to find a rhythm in the Miami heat on Sunday, bowing out in the third round of the Masters 1000 event at the hands of 15th seed Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian rallied from a set down to defeat Auger-Aliassime in three sets.
The Canadian started strong but inconsistency crept into his game as the match went along. Musetti was the more solid of the two and took advantage of his opponent’s fluctuating level to claim a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.
Despite putting 78 per cent of his first serves in play, Auger-Aliassime struggled to protect his serve, facing 14 break points and being broken four times. His rally game was a problem as he committed 51 unforced errors to just 25 winners. Musetti had a far cleaner 19 winners to 26 unforced errors.
The first half of the opening set was uneventful, with both men handling their own serve with ease all the way to 3-3. In the seventh game, Auger-Aliassime up the intensity on Musetti’s serve. It took five break points for the Montrealer to finally convert, with the Italian netting a drop shot for what proved to be the only break of the first set.
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Consolidating the break was the biggest challenge of the set for the Canadian as he found himself facing break points at 15-40 and 40-AD in the following game. But on each, Auger-Aliassime conjured up a big serve and he was able to hang on to stretch his lead to 5-3. When it came time to serve for the set, the Canadian closed it out to love.
In the second set, the serving level dropped from Auger-Aliassime and he found himself struggling to get through games. A couple of missed swinging forehand volleys at 1-2 handed a break to Musetti and even though the Canadian managed to immediately break back, he continued to struggle on his own serve.
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At 2-3, Auger-Aliassime managed to fight back from love-40 down and saved another break point with a big serve at 40-AD, but on the fifth break point of the game, he missed a midcourt forehand to once again give the Italian the advantage. Serving to stay in the set at 2-5, Auger-Aliassime fell behind love-40 and while he saved the first two set points with big serving, he double-faulted on the third to send the match to a decider.
Between sets, Auger-Aliassime had a medical timeout to get his hand taped. Just like the second set, Musetti made his move in the fourth game, pulling out a spectacular forehand passing shot to break for a 3-1 lead. Also like the second set, Auger-Aliassime had a chance to immediately break back in the following game but this time, the Italian was able to save the break points and maintain his advantage.
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That was the last chance the Canadian would get as Musetti never trailed on serve again the rest of the way.
Just like Indian Wells two weeks ago, Denis Shapovalov is the lone Canadian to make it to Monday. He will clash with third seed Taylor Fritz for a spot in the fourth round.
