Felix Auger-Aliassime blasts his performance after shock French Open exit

No. 19 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime blasted his own performance and gave credit to world No. 52 Yoshihito Nishioka after a shock French Open exit. 

World No. 22 Auger-Aliassime entered the match as the big favorite but the Japanese underdog ended up winning in straight sets 7-5 6-3 6-3.

"He played good. Also, I wasn’t good, and I could have been better on many of those opportunities,” Auger-Aliassime said after the match, per Ubitennis.

“I give him credit and I take responsibility for that because I just felt like there were too many times where I just didn’t step up and played a decent point.”

Auger-Aliassime tried to find an explanation for his performance but underlined that it simply wasn't good enough.

"The issue wasn’t technically. The issue could have been mentally, tactically,” Auger-Aliassime noted.

“You always see what you could do better but when you’re in the moment you try your best. You try to win, but sometimes it’s not enough, you’re not good enough on the day.

“Now it’s past me and I’ve got to accept that. It’s not easy. It’s tough. I felt like today I was just not playing good enough.”

Auger-Aliassime admitted he could have done better

"I had some good moments last clay-court tournaments in juniors, challengers, etc. This year there have been three tournaments, three complicated tournaments for me,” Auger-Aliassime added.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve played on clay, I haven’t had time to adjust and train.

“I could have done better, there was no reason. It’s obvious to everyone and myself that I haven’t been able to adapt and do what it takes to play better and win matches.”

Meanwhile, world No. 35 Kei Nishikori was in good spirits after edging out No. 32 seed Dan Evans 1-6 6-1 7-6 (3) 1-6 6-4.

"You have to play seeded player in the early round. But I feel like I'm lucky because I'm supposed to get zero points. I haven't played from US Open. It's been one year. I could have no ranking. But I'm still 30 or 40. I feel like myself a little bit lucky," Nishikori said, per Ravi Ubha.

France's Jeremy Chardy had no one to blame but himself after blowing a big lead against Jurij Rodionov as the Austrian qualifier won 3-6 4-6 7-6 (6) 6-4 10-8.

"I found myself two sets up, 5-4, and served for the match and couldn't do it. After it all changed...I started to get mixed up in my head," Chardy said, per Ravi Ubha.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/339mtT0