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Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada beat Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in a Davis Cup World Group tie to help his country move to the top of Group B on Friday in Valencia. The hosts suffered a shock defeat as the 19-year-old Alcaraz lost his first match as the World No. 1.
The match lasted for almost three hours as Felix Auger-Aliassime held on to register an important win against Carlos Alcaraz. Here's a look at three things that stood out in the match:
#1. Carlos Alcaraz won a close first set that went into a tie-break
Both players managed to hold their serve throughout the first set as it went into a tie-breaker. However, their respective approaches to the game was different.
Carlos Alcaraz stayed on the baseline and went for point construction, while Felix Auger-Aliassime relied on his powerful playing style to shorten the rallies. The Spaniard also targeted Auger-Aliassime’s backhand and there were a lot of crosscourt backhand exchanges.
The Canadian often played the second set after his serve from an advanced court position as Alacraz struggled to land his returns deep. He kept rushing the net to finish the points with volleys and Alcaraz tried to play lobs over the head of the Canadian.
Auger-Aliassime showed great agility to hit a few overhead smashes to finish points. However, it was the US Open champion who managed to take a decisive lead in the tie-break courtesy of a few unforced errors by the Canadian. He then went on to win the tie-break to draw the first blood.
#2. Felix Auger-Aliassime came up with brilliant tennis to win the second set
Felix Auger-Aliassime was unperturbed by the reversal in the first set and continued to serve with great venom in the second set. He finally managed to get the first break of the match in the ninth game of the second set and then served out the set.
Carlos Alcaraz tried to move Auger-Aliassime from side to side by playing the angles frequently in the second set, but the Canadian displayed good court coverage. He also kept hitting a lot of volley winners to take the attack to the Spaniard, as the latter started looking a bit exhausted as the match progressed.
#3. Auger-Aliassime walked away with the final set
Auger-Aliassime started the third set from where he left off in the second and broke Alcaraz in the first game itself. He then broke Alcaraz again to register a convincing win in the end. By the beginning of the third set, the Spaniard was struggling to move swiftly and also started to commit unforced errors more frequently.
Auger-Aliassime kept serving his way out of trouble repeatedly in the match. Alcaraz had seven break-point opportunities in the match, but could convert none of them. Auger-Aliassime saved a couple of break points in the eighth game of the third set – first with an ace and then with a down-the-line forehand winner.
Auger-Aliassime hit 39 winners in the match, a considerable portion of which came through volleys, against Alcaraz’s 21. He committed only 18 unforced errors in the match against Carlos Alcaraz's 21 and won a whopping 81% of the points on his first serve.
Also Checkout:- Davis Cup 2022 Results
