Félix Auger-Aliassime nonetheless has an opportunity to carry house Canada’s first Olympic medal in singles, however it should be bronze after he was overwhelmed by Carlos Alcaraz within the semifinals on Friday morning on the Paris Olympics.
The reigning Roland-Garros champion was in high kind on that very same court docket and confirmed Auger-Aliassime no mercy, outhitting the Canadian in each part of the sport on his method to a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Standing between Auger-Aliassime and the bronze medal on Saturday shall be both Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti.
It was all Alcaraz from begin to end. His mixture of pace and energy annoyed the big-hitting Canadian, who solely managed 5 winners however dedicated 23 unforced errors. He additionally noticed his mighty serve damaged 5 instances whereas by no means making a break level on return.
Learn additionally: Canadians Gear Up for the Their Dwelling Masters
Proper from the beginning, Auger-Aliassime was below stress from the Spaniard, getting pushed to deuce in his opening service sport. On that event, he was capable of maintain, however the subsequent time up, he missed a backhand vast after which double faulted to throw away the early break.
Alcaraz was in peak kind very early within the match, getting each ball, together with some huge serves and well-placed drives from Auger-Aliassime, again with curiosity. The Canadian couldn’t discover a method to finish factors and the whole lot went the Spaniard’s approach.
Auger-Aliassime had solely confronted break factors in a single service sport via his first 5 matches, however he was damaged 3 times in a row within the first set by Alcaraz, who received six straight video games to take the opening set.
Learn additionally: Prime Tales to Watch on the Nationwide Financial institution Open in Montreal
The second set adopted an identical script. Dealing with the human backboard that was Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime cracked in his second service sport, lacking a forehand to arrange a break level after which double-faulting.
There was to be no letting up from the Spaniard, who appeared to have the ball on a string as he adopted up a near-perfect drop shot with a forehand winner down the road to attain a second break earlier than serving out the match.
Auger-Aliassime may nonetheless carry house two medals from the Paris Olympics. He’s additionally taking part in within the combined doubles bronze medal match in a while Friday with Gabriela Dabrowski.
