eBusiness Weekly
Will a return to Cincinnati be the catalyst for a Felix Auger-Aliassime resurgence in 2023?
The 12th-seeded Canadian dug deep on Monday for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph against Matteo Berrettini in a tense first-round encounter at the ATP Masters 1 000 event in Cincinnati.
Auger-Aliassime recovered impressively from dropping the opening set on Grandstand to notch his second win in six Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with the Italian.
Arriving in Ohio on a five-match losing streak, Auger-Aliassime was handed one of the toughest first-round draws possible in seven-time tour-level champion Berrettini.
Yet he outhit the Italian by 25 winners to 13 en route to a two-hour, 25-minute confidence-boosting triumph.
“It’s a big win. It’s been a tough year, dealing with new things,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“Every win that I get, I’m happy, from now on. Of course the tournament has just started and I want to go further. I still have high ambitions. I never doubted myself.
“There’s comments right and left, but at the end of the day I know my tennis didn’t leave me. I know I can still play great tennis and I’ve proved it today again. So I’m going to try to keep going that way and it’s a positive start. Let’s try to keep this rolling.”
Auger-Aliassime let slip two break-back points in the final game of the first set before Berrettini moved ahead in their first meeting of 2023.
He later acknowledged that disappointment had spurred him on as he converted three of the four break points he earned across the second and third sets for a hard-fought victory between two players striving to rediscover their top level.
“I think I was able to turn my frustration from the first set and from the missed opportunities and errors into something positive,” said the 23-year-old.
“I think I had that fire inside that I didn’t want to quit on anything during this match and it’s great that it turned out my way. I’ve been training well, trying my best, and when the results (come) it is a great feeling. I’m very relieved, it’s a good win, and the effort has to keep going now.”
The four-time tour-level titlist Auger-Aliassime reached the quarter-finals in Cincinnati in both 2021 and 2022.
His second-round opponent at the Lindner Family Tennis Centre will be Adrian Mannarino, who prevailed 6-4, 6-3 in an all-French encounter with Richard Gasquet on Sunday.
“Every match is different. I can’t take anything for granted,” said Auger-Aliassime.
“It was a tough first round, but it’s not going to get any easier. The lesson is just to take that type of energy that I had today and just bring it day after day and see how far that leads me.” — ATPTour
