It has been a troublesome run for Félix Auger-Aliassime however after a superb end in Madrid, there may be motive for optimism that the Canadian No. 1 is popping a nook heading into Rome.
Final week, Auger-Aliassime contested the most important singles closing of his profession to this point and seemed like his outdated self. Now he wants to hold the arrogance ahead.
Right here’s what you must know.
In Case You Missed It: Auger-Aliassime Finds His Ft in Madrid
After a protracted spell of struggles within the massive occasions, Félix Auger-Aliassime was overdue to catch a break and as soon as some luck went his manner, he took benefit.
Having not even reached the spherical of 16 at a Masters 1000 (or greater) occasion since March 2023, the Montrealer reached his first 1000-level closing final week on the Mutua Madrid Open.
He had some assist alongside the best way, with each Jakub Mensik in spherical three and Jiri Lehecka within the semifinals retiring, in addition to high seed Jannik Sinner withdrawing forward of their quarter-final conflict.
However when he did need to play, Auger-Aliassime introduced the best stage seen from him in a very long time. His run additionally included his first Prime 10 win of the yr over Casper Ruud, one of many tour’s finest clay-court gamers.
Within the closing, he very practically obtained his arms on the trophy as he took the opening set, however he couldn’t put away Andrey Rublev who snuck out the final two. Simply by reaching the ultimate, he climbs again into the Prime 20 of the ATP rankings and can nearly actually be seeded at each Roland-Garros and Wimbledon.
Auger-Aliassime was the lone Canadian to achieve the second week of Madrid.
What to Watch: Canadian Trio Again at It in Rome
As was the case in Madrid, three Canadians can be competing in singles on the 1000-level Internazionali BNL D’Italia, which will get underway on Tuesday.
As a result of his Madrid run noticed his rating leap, Félix Auger-Aliassime can be seeded in Rome and has a first-round bye. He’ll open towards both 2008 Rome runner-up Stan Wawrinka or a qualifier. Spherical three may see the Canadian conflict with No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur. Auger-Aliassime has received each of their conferences on the ATP Tour, though the Aussie received their lone clay match on the ATP Challenger Tour in 2018.
Denis Shapovalov, who reached the semifinals in Rome in 2020, opens towards native Luciano Darderi and would meet No. 28 seed Mariano Navone within the second spherical. A win there would seemingly see him arrange a rematch with Alexander Zverev of their latest Madrid conflict.
On the ladies’s aspect, Leylah Annie Fernandez would be the lone Canadian consultant in singles. She is going to kick off her marketing campaign towards Ana Bogdan and would meet world No. 6 Marketa Vondrousova within the second spherical. The pair have break up their earlier two conferences, each in Billie Jean King Cup competitors, with Fernandez having claimed the latest conflict within the 2023 semifinals.
A round-two upset may see Fernandez face No. 28 seed Sorana Cirstea within the third spherical.
Beneath the Radar: Marino Comes Shut
Like her fellow Canadian did in Madrid, Rebecca Marino went on a Cinderella run final week, albeit in doubles on the ITF W100 occasion in Gifu, Japan.
Marino and companion Kimberly Birrell of Australia took down the third and top-seeded pairs on their option to the ultimate in Gifu, the place they ran out of magic towards the second seeds En Shuo Liang of Chinese language Taipei and Qianhui Tang of China.
It was Marino’s second doubles closing of the season on the ITF tour. Total throughout all ranges of the professionals, Marino is 4-7 in doubles finals, her final victory coming at a WTA 125 occasion in Charleston with Liang.
The ITF Junior Tour handed via Quebec Metropolis final week, with the host nation sweeping the titles. A spotlight was the boys singles closing, the place Nicolas Arseneault defeated his twin brother Mikael.
Learn additionally: Twin Problem for the 2024 Nationwide Financial institution Open
Extra to come back on the J100 Quebec Metropolis occasion on this week’s Junior Replace on Wednesday.
At a J30 occasion in Montego Bay, Jamaica, there was an all-Canadian ladies doubles closing the place Marylee Longpre and Eve Thibault defeated Jacey Tian and Anya Tkachyk 16-14 within the match tiebreak.
Canada additionally had a win on the ITF Masters Tour, the place Da Hong Wong received the MT100 Shijiazhuang males’s 55+ singles title.
It’s a full week for the Canadians throughout all ranges of the excursions, with Gabriel Diallo and Alexis Galarneau competing in ATP Challenger occasions and teams of Canadian ladies competing at a few ITF W75s in Japan and Florida.
You possibly can observe the Canadians in motion each week right here.
