Photo: Martin Sidorjak
Clay-court FAA is on a roll!
After struggling to find his peak form on the clay surface in April, Félix Auger-Aliassime has won four of his last five matches on the red dirt and is looking like a real threat ahead of the French Open.
Today, Auger-Aliassime made light work of American Marcos Giron, clinching his round-of-16 match in one hour and 28 minutes by a score of 6-3, 6-2.
With the win, the Canadian advanced to his second ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final in as many weeks. His next match will be against the winner of the battle between Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka.
In his opening service game, Auger-Aliassime found himself under some pressure and faced two Giron break points. But, the heavy-hitting Canadian managed to escape unscathed thanks to four clutch aces.
The only break of serve in the first set came in the eighth game, and it was all Auger-Aliassime needed to take the one set lead. He would ride that wave of momentum into the second set and broke his opponent three more times, eventually sealing the match on serve in the eighth game.
The court was tilted in favour of the Canadian from start to finish. His stellar performance featured 30 winners and 23 unforced errors compared to Giron’s stingy five winners and 19 unforced errors.
Auger-Aliassime is now one win away from reaching his second ATP Masters 1000 semi-final. In 2019, he reached the final four in the United States at the Miami Open.
