Louis Armstrong Stadium witnessed a major upset as Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime toppled World No. 3 and former finalist Alexander Zverev in a dramatic 3rd round battle, 4-6, 7-6(9), 6-4, 6-4. The match started as Zverev used his strong baseline hitting and the heavy groundstroke,s and that helped him take the lead in the first set by 6-4. Zverev looked in control by forcing Fekix to be more and more defensive. Felix, however, took little time as he saved quite a lot crucial break points and forced a tiebreaker, which led to a tense situation. Now marks the start of the real drama as Felix held his nerve to make the score 9-7 and levelled the scores, and this is where Zverev started losing momentum.
Auger-Aliassime Topples Zverev with Stunning Comeback
This gave the Canadian a big comeback with him dictating rallies, which also included the forehand, sharp returns, and his consistency under high pressure. Zverev started making errors, and this led to an easy win for the 25th seed as he sealed the next two sets with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4, and this stunned the audience. In his post-match interview, Auger-Aliassime actually said how it was so tough winning against an opponent like Zverev: “Playing against Sascha is always a challenge. He’s one of the best in the world, so I had to raise my level. The crowd really pushed me, and I’m proud of how I fought.” Zverev was disappointed with his loss and, in his interview with CNN, spoke and said he lost the flow. "I had my chances in the tiebreak, but I let it slip. Felix played incredibly well from that point on, and I couldn’t recover.”
This win will take Felix to the next round and make it to the next round and this will be a memorable win against a player like Zverev and he will carry this experience in the tournament further and use this momentum in his upcoming matches.