(New York) Felix Auger-Aliassime was defeated in the first round of the U.S. Open on Monday, with American Mackenzie McDonald winning 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-1, 6 -4 against the Quebecer.
Fifteenth seed, Auger-Aliassime dropped the flag in three and a half hours ahead of McDonald, 40th in the ATP rankings.
The American had the upper hand 4-2 for the breaks against Auger-Aliassime, who committed 52 unforced errors.
“I’ve been feeling good on the court for a few months, like I did today. It’s just a shame that I couldn’t take advantage of my opportunities to get the win, ”said Auger-Aliassime at the microphone of TSN.
“But there were two good innings, one not in my favor and one in my favor, and honestly he [McDonald] played well in the third and that’s to his credit. .
“I had chances to break and come back [in the fourth set] and I’m not able to play well when I have to… Because I have ambitions, it’s hard to accept right now. »
The Quebecer committed two double faults in a first deadlock that had become tight, after the American took the lead 3-1. His second such foul conceded the set to McDonald.
Auger-Aliassime won the second set with his second break of the game. He offered more convincing play in this set, where he won the sixth game to nil after a break that gave him a 3-2 lead.
A 28-year-old Californian, McDonald was intractable in the third set, picking up two breaks. He took a 4-1 lead when the Canadian missed a smash, then 5-1 after a heavily brushed ball that gave his rival trouble. The seventh game of the set ended at zero, after a powerful serve from McDonald.
In the final set, McDonald had the last of his breaks to take a 4-3 lead, then followed it up with a game-winning serve.
Auger-Aliassime narrowed the gap to 5-4 and led 40-0 in the next game, before dropping five points in a row to concede the game. Once the score was 40-15, he allowed points by a ball hit on the frame, one off target on the side, one too deep and one last missing the target on the side.
In the second round, McDonald will face Croatian Borna Gojo, who defeated Bolivian Hugo Dellien.
Opposed to the Greek Stéfanos Tsitsipás, seventh seed, the Ontarian Milos Raonic was beaten 6-2, 6-3 and 6-4. Tsitsipás collected five of the game’s six breaks, taking advantage of more than 48 unforced errors from the Canadian.
“He’s trying to get back to the top level, so I knew he had nothing to lose and I had to play my best tennis. I made the game physical and it worked,” Tsitsipás said.
Former world number three in 2016, Raonic was sidelined for almost two years due to injuries. The 32-year-old Canadian, who played his last game in July 2021 in Atlanta, has been back on the circuit since June in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez, 67th in the world, will play this Tuesday starting at 11 a.m. against Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, 22nd seed. Their record against each other is 1-1 following games played last year.
British Columbian Rebecca Marino will also be in action this Tuesday against Romanian Patricia Maria Țig.
