"Felix Auger-Aliassime sucks so bad right now" - Fans slam Canadian after shocking loss to World No. 237 in Challenger event

Felix Auger-Aliassime's 2025 European claycourt swing hit a new low recently, as the Canadian was ousted from the Millennium Estoril Open after losing his opening match at the ATP Challenger Tour-level event. Andrea Pellegrino, currently ranked World No. 237 on the ATP Tour rankings, was the player that eliminated the 19th-ranked Auger-Aliassime. The shocking result prompted several tennis fans to criticize the out-of-form Canadian.

Pellegrino reached the main draw of the Millennium Estoril Open after winning two qualifying-round matches. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime was the top seed in the tournament's main draw, and received a first-round bye. The pair's second-round meeting shockingly went the Italian's way, and that too in straight sets, with the Canadian losing the match 5-7, 4-6.

Many tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) turned critical of Felix Auger-Aliassime over his latest loss to Andrea Pellegrino in Estoril. Most of the criticism also took into account the former ATP No. 6's poor run of recent results. Auger-Aliassime has now fallen to early defeats at all the claycourt events he has taken part in so far this season (Monte-Carlo Masters, Bavarian International Tennis Championships, Madrid Open and most recently the Millennium Estoril Open).

"Usually the better players don’t want to last longer just want a tune up match or two but Felix literally sucks so bad right now there’s no telling which it is. From the score I’d guess he just couldn’t beat a challenger qualifier," a fan wrote.

"I refuse to even try to understand what's going on with FAA. It's even more bizarre considering his strong start to the season," commented another, referring to the Canadian's title triumphs at the Adelaide International and the Open Occitanie, and deep runs at the Qatar Open (semifinals) and the Dubai Tennis Championships (final).

"Felix Auger Aliassime lost straight sets in a challenger. What on earth is going on with his tennis?" one asked.

"If this is not the height of shame," wrote another fan.

"Felix Auger-Aliassime’s decline needs to be studied," another chimed in.

"FAA can't even win in challengers," added yet another fan.

Auger-Aliassime himself was quite self-critical in the wake of his loss to Pellegrino in Estoril.

Felix Auger-Aliassime summed up his nightmarish European claycourt swing so far as "terrible" experience; Andrea Pellegrino makes "biggest win" confession after stunning Canadian

Felix Auger-Aliassime (Source: Getty)

After his shocking loss to Andrea Pellegrino in Estoril, Felix Auger-Aliassime told Talking Tennis that his recent on-court performances have been "terrible". The Canadian's response was to a question that quizzed him about where he stands in tennis now compared to his breakout year in 2019 and arguably his best season so far in 2022, during which he won four ATP Tour-level titles and became World No. 6.

"The first two months (of 2025) were very close (to his level in 2019 and 2022), and then the last two, the next two, have been terrible," Auger-Aliassime said.

Meanwhile, an ecstatic Pellegrino said:

"It's the biggest win of my career. Every match is tough physically, specially on clay. I'm prepared, I now that every match I've to run a lot and I'm not scared of that."

Auger-Aliassime is yet to win a claycourt match so far this year, but would be hoping to turn things around next at the Italian Open and then at the Hamburg Open, before turning his attention to the year's second Grand Slam at Roland Garros.