Felix Auger-Aliassime positive despite losing thriller in return from injury



by DZEVAD MESIC

Felix Auger-Aliassime positive despite losing thriller in return from injury

Felix Auger-Aliassime admitted it was disappointing to lose early in Madrid but noted that just returning to action made him happy. After being out for a month due to a knee injury, world No 9 Auger-Aliassime returned to action on Saturday.

In his Madrid opener, Auger-Aliassime suffered a 6-2 3-6 7-6 (5) loss to 40th-ranked Lajovic. "Unfortunate that I couldn’t make it through today’s battle but nonetheless I’m happy to be back competing and will be bringing all of the positives aspects of my game with me towards the coming weeks," Auger-Aliassime tweeted.

Auger-Aliassime fell short in a thriller against Lajovic

In the first set, Lajovic started with back-to-back breaks and a 4-0 lead before serving out for the set in the eighth game.

After easily losing the first set, Auger-Aliassime earned his break of the match in the sixth game and then held on to his serve for the remainder of the second set to force a decider. In the 12th game of the third set - when Auger-Aliassime was serving to stay in the match - the Canadian saved two match points to force a third-set tie-break.

After saving two match points, Auger-Aliassime lost the opening five points of the third-set tie-break. Lajovic had a 6-2 lead and four consecutive match points - Auger-Aliassime saved three more match points before Lajovic finally converted his sixth match point to complete a three-set win.

“It was super tight at the end. I was just hoping that he was going to stay back on my serve, because when he was coming in, I was feeling a lot of pressure. We opened up the last point. I tried to play heavy on my forehand but because my hand was tight, it was really going short until in the end [one] came up well," Lajovic said. Auger-Aliassime will try to do better in Rome.

Felix Auger-aliassime Dusan Lajovic