Photo: Martin Sidorjak
Auger-Aliassime came close to defeating the Serbian to advance to the semifinals
A 6-3, 6-2 win over Giron this week sent Felix Auger-Aliassime to his second consecutive Masters 1000 quarter-final. In his first match against Novak Djokovic, Auger-Aliassime showed great technique and determination, but unfortunately it was not enough to defeat the World No. 1. The match produced some incredible rallies and very close games, leaving the suspense alive until the last ball.
The two players remained neck and neck in the first set until Djokovic jumped at the first opportunity to break the Canadian’s serve in the seventh game. Auger-Aliassime immediately responded to level the match, but the Serb fought back to close out the set 7-5 thanks to a second break of serve.
The second set was just as tightly contested. After exchanging breaks, the two players headed to a tiebreak, which was largely dominated by Djokovic who sealed the outcome of the encounter in two sets of 7-5, 7-6(1).
The stakes were high for Djokovic, who risked being dethroned from the top of the world rankings in favour of Daniil Medvedev if he did not reach the final four. On Saturday, the Serb will be looking for the 1,000th win of his career when he takes on Norwegian Casper Ruud.
As for Auger-Aliassime, his next tournament will be the French Open, the second Grand Slam event of the year, starting on May 22.
