Félix Auger-Aliassime nonetheless has an opportunity to carry house Canada’s first Olympic medal in singles, but it surely must 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 courtroom and confirmed Auger-Aliassime no mercy, outhitting the Canadian in each section of the sport on his strategy to a 6-1, 6-1 win.
Standing between Auger-Aliassime and the bronze medal on Saturday will probably be both Novak Djokovic or Lorenzo Musetti.
It was all Alcaraz from begin to end. His mixture of velocity and energy pissed off the big-hitting Canadian, who solely managed 5 winners however dedicated 23 unforced errors. He additionally noticed his mighty serve damaged 5 occasions whereas by no means making a break level on return.
Learn additionally: Canadians Gear Up for the Their Home Masters
Proper from the beginning, Auger-Aliassime was underneath strain 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 huge 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 strategy to finish factors and all the things went the Spaniard’s manner.
Auger-Aliassime had solely confronted break factors in one service game through his first five 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: Top Stories to Watch at the National Bank Open in Montreal
The second set adopted an identical script. Going through 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 might nonetheless carry house two medals from the Paris Olympics. He’s additionally playing in the mixed doubles bronze medal match afterward Friday with Gabriela Dabrowski.
