AUCKLAND – Félix Auger-Aliassime won a long match for his return to competition, Wednesday in Auckland (New Zealand), losing 7-6 (11/9), 7-5 in a duel lasting 2 hours 34 minutes against the German Daniel Altmaier.
The tiebreaker and first set alone lasted 90 minutes, as the clash was played under a scorching sun.
Starting sixth in the world to start the 2023 season, “FAA” had a year that he described as “disappointing”, ultimately falling to 29th position.
It was the first time that Auger-Aliassime, fourth seed in this ATP 250, crossed swords with Altmaier, who is 25 years old and ranked 47th.
Altmaier won 73% of the points played on his first service ball, compared to 65% for the Quebecer. Auger-Aliassime becomes the highest-ranked player Altmaier has defeated so far in his career on hard court.
“Definitely, it was a great match that we just played, with high quality exchanges. (…) I worked hard on my defensive tennis during the off-season, and I feel in great shape,” summarized Altmaier.
The German will play the quarters; he is now awaiting the result of the match between the Frenchman Arthur Fils and the Portuguese Nuno Borges.
Auger-Aliassime will not have any other preparatory matches to get his teeth into before starting his journey at the Australian Open next week in Melbourne.
The 23-year-old tennis player was eliminated in the first round during his last three appearances in Grand Slam tournaments.
On Australian soil, he will have 180 ranking points to defend, after reaching the fourth round last year.
Until last week, the Montrealer didn’t know if he was going to be able to play in the Auckland tournament, given that the knee injury that bothered him during part of last season has returned.
2024-01-10 01:47:00
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