Felix Auger Aliassime

[Lucas]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Felix fires past Ruud, sets Sinner QF showdown

Spoiler:

Canadian upsets fifth seed for biggest win of season
April 30, 2024
Felix Auger-Aliassime earns the best clay-court win of his career by PIF ATP Rankings.Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour
Felix Auger-Aliassime earns the best clay-court win of his career by PIF ATP Rankings.
By ATP Staff
Felix Auger-Aliassime earned his best clay-court win by PIF ATP Ranking by beating World No. 6 Casper Ruud on Tuesday at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Canadian, who was 11-10 this season entering the ATP Masters 1000, has now notched four consecutive victories in the Spanish capital to reach the quarter-finals, where he will meet Jannik Sinner.

Auger-Aliassime fired 32 winners in the match and won 24 of 28 net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, hurting the Barcelona champion and Monte-Carlo finalist throughout with heavy baseline power. Ruud, who leads the ATP Tour with 31 victories this season, saw his seven-match winning streak snapped.

"Big win for me. Not only this year, overall in my career," said the Canadian, who had lost his previous three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Ruud. "I knew coming in it was going to be the toughest match so far for me this week and it was. But I came out on top and played some great tennis, so really happy to be through."


The victory was Auger-Alaissime's 15th against a Top 10 opponent in the PIF ATP Rankings and his first since he beat Holger Rune en route to the Basel title last October. It was also his second Top 10 win on clay, after his win against Diego Schwartzman in Rome in 2021.




In the midst of his deepest tournament run of 2024, the 23-year-old is happy to see his hard work on the practice court paying off.

"Just believing in my work. It's a marathon, this sport," he said. "I'm trying with my team to build a better level through the weeks. Sometimes it just doesn't go your way. I've had some tight losses in the last few weeks, but this time it did go my way and it's going more and more my way this week, so I'm really happy that I'm able to show what I've been working on.

"I feel like the backhand I'm hitting much better. I'm serving well, being more consistent with the second serve. All the things that I've been trying to work on are starting to show on the match court as well."

He will hope to continue his improvement when he meets Sinner in the quarter-finals. Auger-Aliassime holds a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head record against the Italian World No. 2, with both wins coming in 2022—including a 6-1, 6-2 domination that year in Madrid.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/felix-r ... 24-tuesday

[Art]

ATP Madryt 24: 9. ćwierćfinał M-1000.

Felix Auger Aliassime d. [5] Casper Ruud 64 75

[Art]

ATP Madryt 24: 3. półfinał M-1000.

Felix Auger Aliassime d. [1] Jannik Sinner walkower

[DUN I LOVE]

Wypadałoby zrobić krok do przodu.

[Damian]

Lehecka & Felix's huge opportunity in Madrid

Spoiler:

A Mutua Madrid Open semi-final between 30th seed Jiri Lehecka and Felix Auger-Aliassime was not the most likely outcome at the Caja Magica. But now that both men are in the last four at the Spanish ATP Masters 1000 event, they have a huge opportunity to surge in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Lehecka, a 22-year-old rising star from the Czech Republic, entered the Madrid event at World No. 31. He has already surged to No. 22 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, one spot above his career high, and has a big chance to ascend even higher.

If the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF runner-up defeats Auger-Aliassime on Friday, he will climb to No. 20 in the Live Rankings (current No. 20 Adrian Mannarino is playing an ATP Challenger Tour event and can pass him). A maiden ATP Masters 1000 title would propel Lehecka to a career-high World No. 17 after he missed the start of the clay-court season due to a right vertebra injury.

It has been a memorable tournament for Lehecka, who defeated five-time champion Rafael Nadal in the fourth round.

“It's a great feeling, honestly. To play my first clay-court event of the year, Masters 1000, and to be in the semis is just great for me. It's just something what I wished for for a long time after last year where I didn't really play well in Masters 1000 events,” Lehecka said. “I don't want to say that I was a bit shy to compete well or to play my best tennis. I gained some important experience, which helped me in the matches like against Rafa and against these kind of matchups.

“I’m happy that also after Indian Wells this year I managed to play well [at] another Masters 1000 event, and it's a very important milestone for me to play my first semi-final.”

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The stakes are just as high for Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian arrived in Madrid with an 11-10 record for the season and at World No. 35, just 16 months after he was a career-high World No. 6.

The 23-year-old has already made a 10-spot jump in the PIF ATP Live Rankings to No. 25 by advancing to the semi-finals. He can make the same leap as Lehecka — Felix would be the live No. 20 by making his first Masters 1000 final and No. 17 if he lifts the trophy.

In the other half of the draw, seventh seed Andrey Rublev will play 12th seed Taylor Fritz in a battle of former Masters 1000 champions.

Rublev, the 2023 Monte-Carlo titlist, can climb to World No. 6 by winning the title. Fritz, the 2022 Indian Wells winner, can move to World No. 11 by lifting the trophy. He has already reclaimed American No. 1 status from Ben Shelton, who is live No. 14.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/lehecka ... projection

[Lucas]

[Lucas]

[Lucas]

[Lucas]

[DUN I LOVE]

Z Bożą pomocą, ale ma ten finał M-1000 FAA.

[Barty]

Z Bożą pomocą, ale ma ten finał M-1000 FAA.

Jak wygra finał, to...?

[DUN I LOVE]

Będziemy mieli czarnego triumfatora M-1000.

[Barty]

To prawda, i pewnie może być momentem zwrotnym w jego karierze (sam w to nie wierzę, ale jak nie teraz, to kiedy?).

[DUN I LOVE]

To prawda, i pewnie może być momentem zwrotnym w jego karierze (sam w to nie wierzę, ale jak nie teraz, to kiedy?).

Raczej na farcie finał. Pewnie coś tam wygra i to nie raz, ale nie wierzę w jakiś mega skok i wieloletnią stabilizację na poziomie Top-6 np.

[Damian]

[Damian]

Felix advances to Madrid final after Lehecka retires

Spoiler:

Canadian into maiden ATP Masters 1000 championship match
May 03, 2024
Highlights: Auger-Aliassime into Madrid 2024 final after Lehecka retirement
Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to his first ATP Masters 1000 championship match after a back injury forced Jiri Lehecka to retire from the pair's Mutua Madrid Open clash. Watch live & on demand at TennisTV.com.

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Felix Auger-Aliassime embraces Jiri Lehecka at the net on Friday in Madrid.
By ATP Staff
Felix Auger-Aliassime will play Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s championship match at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Canadian advanced to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final after Jiri Lehecka was forced to retire just seven games into the pair’s last-four clash Friday in the Spanish capital.

The 30th-seeded Lehecka, who withdrew from Monte-Carlo and Barcelona last month with a right vertebrae issue, clutched his lower back in pain during the sixth game of the night session semi-final. After Auger-Aliassime held serve for 3-3, Lehecka left court for treatment from the physio. He tried to continue playing upon his return, but called proceedings to a halt three points later.

A former No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Auger-Aliassime will chase the biggest title of his career when he takes on Rublev at the Caja Magica in the pair’s sixth tour-level meeting. Rublev, who earlier beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-3, leads the Canadian 4-1 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series and triumphed in three sets in their most recent encounter in February in Rotterdam.


It was the second time this tournament that Auger-Aliassime advanced after his opponent was unable to complete a match. Jakub Mensik retired in the second set of his third-round clash with the Canadian, who later advanced through the quarter-finals via walkover due to a hip injury for Jannik Sinner.

“It’s crazy. I don’t know if I’s every happened to a player before,” said Auger-Aliassime. “It’s kind of a weird situation to be in on my part. It’s never happened to me in my career so far, a withdrawal or a walkover or retirement of this sort, and back-to-back like this. I couldn’t believe what was happening when I saw his back locked on him.

“I feel really bad for him. I’ve had injuries myself, and we can all imagine how it feels to come out on a night like this, hoping to win to go through, having a battle with your opponent, and not being able to play. I have a lot of empathy for Jiri, and I can’t do anything but try to prepare for Sunday.”

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Despite his relative lack of match action so far in Madrid, Auger-Aliassime has shown signs of getting back to his best at the Caja Magica. He downed the in-form Casper Ruud in straight sets in the fourth round, and will on Sunday contest his 15th ATP tour final, and his first since last October in Basel.

Regardless of the result on Sunday, Auger-Aliassime’s first Masters 1000 final appearance will give him a significant boost in Monday's edition of the PIF ATP Rankings. He has currently risen 15 spots to No. 20 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, and he will rise a further three spots to No. 17 if he can beat Rublev on Sunday.

Lehecka’s run to his first Masters 1000 semi-final will on Monday lift him eight spots to a joint career high of No. 23 in the PIF ATP Rankings. Madrid was the first tour-level tournament since Miami in March for the 22-year-old Czech, who was chasing a second ATP Tour title of the season after he lifted his maiden crown in January at the Adelaide International.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/lehecka ... -friday-sf

[Damian]

[Lucas]