MONTREAL — Felix Auger-Aliasime stood at the back of the hard court at IGA Stadium with one hand on his hip and a look of wonder on his face.
Casper Ruud managed to get his racquet overhead late in Friday’s National Bank Open quarterfinal, the return going over Auger-Aliassime’s head and inside the baseline.
Auger-Aliassime came back but his shot found the net. Nothing was going his way that day – not even the tennis equivalent of a slam dunk – in a 6-1, 6-2 match that lasted just 74 minutes.
“(My) first two games were good, some positive things,” Auger-Aliassim said. “I never thought it would end like this today.”
Sixth seed Auger-Aliasime came into play without dropping a set this week but slipped out on an overcast afternoon. Ruud, the No. 4 seed from Norway, wrapped up the first set in a quick 36 minutes and took the partisan crowd out of the match.
Montreal’s Auger-Aliasime made 21 unforced errors to just eight for Ruud, who advanced to his third Masters 1000 semifinal of the season.
“It was a perfect day for me at the office,” Ruud said.
Auger-Aliasime was the last Canadian left in the draw. Ruud, who will next play No. 8 Hubert Hurkach of Poland, won 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-1 over Nick Kyrgios.
Auger-Aliasime was hoping to become the first Canadian to reach the semifinals of this ATP Tour event since Denis Shapovalov in 2017. The last Canadian to win this tournament was Robert Bedard in 1958.
“It’s extremely disappointing to lose a tournament like this and especially here,” Auger-Aliasime said.
In a match between two unseeded players, Britain’s Daniel Evans beat American Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to advance.
Evans will then play the winner of Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta and British qualifier Jack Draper in the last of the quarter-final matches on Friday.
Auger-Aliasime was unable to enter the track despite regular urgings from the near-full crowd. He threw more strikes than usual and his errors came at critical times.
With a powerful forehand and an effective two-handed backhand, Ruud was clinical in his attack and relentless in his pressure. Auger-Aliassime was forced to stand up and had to settle for a defensive style.
The Canadian gave up two quick breaks in the second set before finally holding serve to go 1-4 up.
“Immediately losing my service game, then another one … at three-love, it really felt like the worst possible outcome today,” Auger-Aliasime said. “It gets really hard at that point.
“I tried my best, but he was also getting more comfortable and confident, so then things got a lot harder.”
Earlier in the day, Hurkacz took advantage of two Kyrgios double faults early in the third set for the first break of serve of their match. He rolled from there to end the Australian’s nine-game winning streak.
“Nick is a super opponent, he can make every single shot,” Hurkac said. “He doesn’t really have that many weaknesses, if any. I was just trying to serve (well) and stay aggressive.”
There was no waste of energy from Kyrgios, who played as if a taxi was waiting for him outside the hall.
He usually only hit the ball once and went straight into his service move. The pace of the game agreed with Hurkacz, a six-foot-five right-hander who suited the Australian’s power game.
Both players had break opportunities, but tiebreaks were needed to decide the first two sets.
Kyrgios, who ousted defending champion and world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the second round, slowed in the third set and his serve lost some of its power.
“I’m not a machine, I’m human,” Kyrgios said. “My knees hurt, my back was sore, my stomach (area) was sore. I was trying to keep moving but I just froze.”
Kyrgios enters the match having won 15 of his last 16 matches, with the only defeat coming to Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last month.
The semifinals are set for Saturday, and the final of the $6.57 million tournament is Sunday. The winner will win just over $915,000.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 12, 2022.
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