Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime easily advanced to the quarter-finals of the Rome tennis tournament on Thursday, defeating American “Lucky Loser” Marcos Giron in two sets of 6-3 and 6-2, so that he now has appointment with the world number 1, Novak Djokovic.
• Read also: Bianca Andreescu advances, Leylah Fernandez fails in Rome
• Read also: Félix Auger-Aliassime advances to round of 16 in Rome
Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime easily advanced to the quarter-finals of the tennis tournament in Rome on Thursday, defeating American “Lucky Loser” Marcos Giron in two sets of 6-3 and 6-2, so that he now has appointment with the world number 1, Novak Djokovic.
The event’s eighth seed and ninth-ranked ATP player spent around 90 minutes on Roman clay facing the 60th-ranked player on the planet.
Thanks in particular to an 11-1 domination in terms of aces, Auger-Aliassime put an end to the fairy tale of his opponent who had defeated the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman in his previous confrontation. Four breaks in eight attempts helped the maple leaf athlete win a second straight game in Italy.
“FAA” will now have a much tougher task on Friday. Djokovic easily disposed of Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka in two identical sets 6-2 and lived up to his status as the first player in the world. Auger-Aliassime will have his first career clash with the Serb, 13 years older than him.
“I have known Felix for a few years. He’s an established player, a member of the top 10, so he’s there. He’s a hard worker on the circuit and a good guy. His overall game is improving and he is improving on clay. I know his game and I know what to expect,” Djokovic told the ATP website.
Shapovalov surprend Nadal
After tricking him at the Rogers Cup in 2017 and at Paris-Bercy in 2019, Denis Shapovalov once again got the better of Rafael Nadal. The Canadian showed resilience to beat the king of clay in three sets of 1-6, 7-5 and 6-2 in Rome on Thursday.
“I was just trying to change something,” Shapovalov said, his words being echoed by the ATP website. He completely dominated me at the start of the meeting. In the first set and at the start of the second, I was just trying to hang on. I am very happy with this turnaround.”
Without taking anything away from the feat of the 23-year-old athlete, Nadal did not seem to be in top form at the end of the game. The Spaniard staggered at the end of this duel which lasted more than two and a half hours, probably annoyed by a foot injury.
“Obviously I was a big fan. I watched him play many times. Growing up, I wanted to act and behave like him. So I hold him in high esteem and I hope he will be in good shape for Roland-Garros,” added the Canadian about his opponent of the day.
This is the first time that “Rafa” has not reached the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters since 2008.
In this encounter between southpaws, Shapovalov excelled on serve, hitting 13 aces and winning 63% of the points when he placed his first serve.
He also had more winning shots than his opponent (35 to 18) and committed fewer unforced errors (4 to 7).
In the quarter-finals, “Shapo” will cross swords with the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who beat Jenson Brooksby.
Bianca Andreescu gets to the quarter
Canada’s Bianca Andreescu continued her good work in Rome, beating Croatia’s Petra Martic in two identical sets 6-4 in the third round.
The winner needed 1h 43min to defeat her 47th ranked rival in the WTA. The Ontario player, who currently occupies the 90th place of the professional circuit, took advantage of the troubles in the service of Martic, who committed six double faults and maintained a percentage of effectiveness of 50% with the first balls in hand.
Andreescu broke three times on four occasions and was broken once of the seven chances she gave Martic. In the quarter-finals, the Canadian will face the world’s number one racket, Poland’s Iga Swiatek. The latter defeated Belarusian Victoria Azarenka during the day on Thursday, winning a 25th consecutive match.
“I watched Iga play, so I know the opposition will be strong as they also like to change the pace of matches,” noted Andreescu, whose words were quoted by the WTA website. She is a player who fights very hard.
Swiatek was full of praise for her next rival either.
“Bianca is a great player. It struck me how varied her game is, watching her play last year. It will be a very exciting match, but the most important thing for me is to be more and more comfortable on clay.