Felix Auger-Aliassime: 'Matches against Shapovalov are always special'
An 18-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassime has claimed the 17th triumph in 2019 and the 11th at Masters 1000 series overall (the youngest player with that many wins), beating the fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 7-6 in an hour and 49 minutes. It wasn't the best match we could have got, with more unforced errors than winners, and it was Felix who managed to tame his shots more effectively, hitting a lot of service winners and forging the gap in the shortest range up to four strokes. The younger Canadian saved two out of three break points and Denis couldn't stay on that pace, suffering three breaks from nine chance given to Felix for the fourth straight loss, the third on clay after Monte Carlo and Barcelona.
Shapovalov saved two break points in the first game of the match to avoid an early setback before another loose service game that pushed Auger-Aliassime 2-1 up when Denis' forehand landed long. Felix broke again in game seven with a deep return and sealed the opener with a service winner a few minutes later for a commanding lead and one step closer to the finish line. The second set was more competitive, with back-to-back-breaks in games five and six before a tie break where Auger-Aliassime converted the fourth match point at 8-7 after a huge forehand mistake from Denis to book the place in the second round against world no. 2 Rafael Nadal.
"It is never easy to play against Denis, you feel the nerves right from the morning coming up through the match. Even though we know each other very well it is always a special match and I think I was able to put that away at the start, be very solid, play my game and put high percentage of serve in. I had the edge when he started to come back in the second, made me working and went for his shots, and it wasn't until the last ball that I made the difference. I'm comfortable in Europe and it helped that I traveled to Europe so many times as a kid, also, speaking French makes Monte Carlo or entire France my second home, I'm enjoying playing in Europe."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2PNp8cK
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