MONTREAL — Felix Auger-Aliassime stood at the back of the hard court at IGA Stadium with a hand on his hip and a look of surprise on his face.
Casper Ruud had his racket smashed late in Friday’s quarter-final at the National Bank Open, the return floating over Auger-Aliassime’s head and into the baseline.
Auger-Aliassime shot back but his shot found the mark. Nothing was going for him that day, not even the tennis equivalent of a slam dunk, in a 6-1, 6-2 loss that lasted just 74 minutes.
“My first two games were good, some positive things,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I never thought today would end like this.”
Auger-Aliassime, seeded sixth, came into play without dropping a set this week, but came out flat on an overcast afternoon. Ruud, the No. 4 seed from Norway, wrapped up the first set in a quick 36 minutes and took the supporting crowd out of the match.
Montreal’s Auger-Aliassime 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,” said Ruud.
Auger-Aliassime was the last Canadian left in the draw. Ruud, who will next play No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-1 winner over Nick Kyrgios.
Auger-Aliassime was hoping to become the first Canadian to reach the semifinals at this ATP Tour event since Denis Shapovalov in 2017. The last Canadian to win this tournament was Robert Bedard in 1958.
“It’s very disappointing to lose a tournament like this and especially here,” Auger-Aliassime said.
The unseeded players were scheduled to play in the afternoon quarterfinals. American Tommy Paul was to face Britain’s Daniel Evans and Spain’s Pablo Carreño Busta was to meet British qualifier Jack Draper.
Auger-Aliassime was unable to get on track despite the usual urgings of the near capacity crowd. He was hitting more shots than usual and his mistakes came at critical times.
With a powerful forehand and an effective two-handed backhand, Ruud was clinical in his attack and relentless with pressure. Auger-Aliassime was forced to follow his heels and had to settle for a defensive style.
The Canadian conceded two quick breaks in the second set before finally holding serve to go 1-4 up.
“To lose my service game right away, then another one … at three loves, it really felt like the worst possible result today,” Auger-Aliassime said. “At this point it becomes very hard.
“I did my best, but he was also getting more and more comfortable and confident, so things become a lot more difficult.”
Earlier in the day, Hurkacz took advantage of two Kyrgios double faults early in the third set for the first break of service of his match. He rolled from there to end the Australian’s nine-game winning streak.
“Nick is a super opponent, he can make every shot,” Hurkacz said. “He doesn’t really have that many weaknesses, if any. I was just trying to serve (well) and stay aggressive.”
Kyrgios did not lose energy, he played as if he had a taxi waiting outside the venue.
He would usually throw the ball just once and go straight into his service move. The pace of play matched Hurkacz, a six-foot-five right-hander who matched the Australian’s power play.
Both players had break opportunities but tiebreakers were needed to resolve the first two sets.
Kyrgios, who dispatched defending champion and world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in the second round, slowed down in the third set and his serve lost some of its zip.
“I’m not a machine, I’m a human,” Kyrgios said. “My knees hurt, my back hurt, my abdominal area hurt. I tried to keep moving, but I got stiff.”
Kyrgios entered the game with wins in 15 of his last 16 matches, with the only loss coming to Novak Djokovic in last month’s Wimbledon final.
The semi-finals are scheduled for Saturday and the final of the US$6.57 million tournament will take place on Sunday. The winner will earn just over $915,000.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on August 12, 2022.
Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.