Rogers Cup 2018: Birthday boy Auger-Aliassime falls to Medvedev in three sets

Rudi Schuller

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Rogers Cup 2018: Birthday boy Auger-Aliassime falls to Medvedev in three sets image

Daniil Medvedev crashed the party as Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime suffered a second-round defeat at the Rogers Cup on Wednesday.

Auger-Aliassime, considered one of the rising stars of world tennis, was celebrating his 18th birthday in Toronto but Medvedev delivered a harsh lesson to the teenager, with the Russian claiming a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(9) victory.

There was little to separate the players in the first set as they both held serve through the first six games. At 3-3, Auger-Aliassime won the first break point of the match to snatch the momentum. The teenager then cruised through the rest of the set as his superior service numbers proved to be the difference.

MORE: Shapovalov ousts Fognini to move on to third round

Medvedev battled back in the second set, grabbing a 3-1 advantage before seeing the Canadian pull back to level terms. From there it was a bit of back and forth, but the Russian managed a pair of break points to claim an advantage and hit six aces en route to a second set victory.

Despite the setback, Auger-Aliassime grew in confidence in the deciding set. With the crowd cheering him on, the teen showed why he is rated so highly in jumping out to a 4-1 lead.

Medvedev showed resilience in taking the next three games in short order, setting up a back-and-forth between the competitors for the duration of the match that eventually forced a tiebreak. Auger-Aliassime looked to take control of the match with a 4-1 lead in the tiebreak, but Medvedev fought back again and eventually overcame the Canadian for good.

Medvedev advances to face reigning Rogers Cup champion Alexander Zverev in the Round of 16.

Rudi Schuller