The 2021 Australian Open was looking like Félix Auger-Aliassime's Grand Slam coming-out party. Through the first three rounds, the Montrealer hadn't dropped a set and cruised in his wins — including ousting the 11th seed, countryman Denis Shapovalov, in the Round of 32.
So when things started off well — really well — in his Round of 16 match against Aslan Karatsev on Sunday in Melbourne, it seemed as if the 20-year-old was destined for his first career quarterfinal. But then the match took a turn, and not in a good way for him. After taking a two-set lead, he couldn't close out the match and was instead handed a 3-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 exit.
"It's a shame, it's really a shame that I couldn't get through today," Auger-Aliassime said after the match. "You know, it's difficult to swallow but you know it's tennis. That's how it is, it's life and honestly, it can only help me in the future."
The future remains bright for Auger-Aliassime, who went the distance for the first time in his career and can now appreciate having had that experience. He can also take away lessons from what the ESPN telecast noted was essentially two matches in one five-setter and begin work on avoiding a repeat.
Auger-Aliassime, the No. 20 seed, was rolling against the qualifier who knocked off the No. 8 seed Diego Schwartzman in the third round. The next two sets were a different story.
Comparing the first two sets to sets 3 and 4
| SETS 1 & 2 | STAT | SETS 3 & 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Aces | 2 |
| 71 percent | First serves in | 49 percent |
| 69 percent | Second serve points won | 57 percent |
| 33 percent | Return points won vs. 1st serve | 12 percent |
| 65 percent | Return points won vs. 2nd serve | 47 percent |
| 5/6 | Break point chances | — |
| 4/5 | Break points saved | 1/4 |
| 13 | Winners | 7 |
| 9 | Unforced errors | 19 |
"To be honest, a lot of credits to him," Auger-Aliassime said. "He played well, he raised his level after the second set and mentally. He started serving really well, doing everything really good and on my part I started serving not as good, not hitting my targets and things got a bit tougher from that point on."
Auger-Aliassime battled in the fifth and showcased some of the same skills that pushed him to that two-set lead. He staved off multiple break point chances by Karatsev in the seventh game to get to 3-4 and get back on serve. But he couldn't stop the Russian, who is ranked 114th in the world and is making his Grand Slam main-draw debut. Karatsev is now just the third qualifier in the Open Era to reach the quarters Down Under.
"I didn't give up ever. I tried everything. So what can you say?" said Auger-Aliassime. "He played good. Of course, I wish I could have served better, but, you know. I can't just snap my fingers and it just happens, you know? So I've got to be just a better player overall to overcome these situations and I think the positive thing is mentally, I stayed positive. I stayed positive, I believed until the end."
Auger-Aliassime has shown over the past few months why he is a rising superstar on the tennis circuit.
In September, he made his first career Grand Slam Round of 16 before bowing out to eventual champion Dominic Thiem at the U.S. Open. A few months later, he was a finalist and then a semifinalist in back-to-back tournaments in Cologne, Germany; he lost both to players who are ranked in the top 10 (No. 7 Alexander Zverev and No 9. Schwartzman, respectively). One week ago, he was a finalist in the Murray River Open, the Aussie Open tuneup event.
"I think compared to the player I was, let's say 2019 or even last year, I think that was an improvement against a player that, as we all saw, played a great match," he said. "Mentally, I tried to stay in there, to believe, and I think that's positive for the future.
"Today didn't go my way. In the future it might, and these are key matches to go further in Grand Slams. Unluckily, today it didn't go my way, but I think there's for sure positives to take from the way I handled myself."