Felix Auger-Aliassime shares thoughts on tight Yoshihito Nishioka loss
"No, this was different compared to the match against Daniil Medvedev, I was up in the third against the Russian, up in the tiebreak. Yeah, maybe little similar to today, but still different. Today I felt like.. I started well but after that I wasn't playing as well as the match, I think, last year was a high-quality match. It was even more disappointing because it was at home and I was leading by a lot. I think this time, I felt like, I don't know, in the second I felt.. physically I felt just not great. I was up a break, but something wasn't right. I just felt like I was on edge, yeah. I was close to getting broken every time. Then eventually turned his way and I had 30, 40 minutes where I lost my rhythm.
Like, I wasn't sure what to do anymore. I tried to fight, stay in there. For sure paid off, I felt I was close to winning. Tough to swallow, but at the same time he deserved it, as well. From the first set and the start of the second, I was playing well. Yeah, I think it started physically, and then I think he adjusted his game and felt like he had maybe a bit of a hole. And then, yeah, he kind of just started playing high on my backhand. I wasn't hitting as many forehands. I was struggling to dictate the points, struggling to move, the serve, as well. From there, it was tough. But I don't think it's because of the conditions. I think the conditions were as usual. They were pretty great, yeah.
I felt good today, waking up, everything. But in the second set, yeah, I had a bit of a hole, not finding my energy and power again. Yeah, I don't know how.. like, you know, you try some things to stay in the match. Eventually, you know, back against the wall, I think I found a second speed, more energy. For sure, fatigue. If I felt a bit more fresh probably maybe I would have been able to play better in the second. Yeah, that's tennis, I guess. You see all kinds of matches. I'm not the first guy to lose a match like this. I am not going to be the last guy, for sure.
But all credit to Nishioka, because at 5-3, I hung in there. We had a tough rally, and he just stayed in there. So credit to him for that. And I didn't serve bad after, from 5-4. I think he just played good points. Yeah, I don't think it was.. at the end, I think it was, overall, the match, yeah, just.. I think the match wasn't played in the tie break at the end."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Jafxxc
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