Carlos Alcaraz came into this semi-final, his eighth of the year, with a spectacular 7-1 record in penultimate rounds. Felix Auger-Aliassime, for his part, was in his best form of 2022, with a run of 11 matches and two consecutive titles. More importantly, he had the morale boost over the Spaniard, who had not managed to win a single set in the two matches they had previously played - the last being in the Davis Cup last September.
It was clear from the start that the Auger-Aliassime, currently ranked ninth in the ATP rankings, was not willing to put an end to his dominance. After the Spaniard held his serve with difficulty, the eighth game came, in which he seemed to suddenly collapse. With a double fault, an error at the net and another unforced error, he gave the advantage to his rival, who with a missile-like servem gave no option of a counter break and closed the first set with 20/25 points on serve.
The serve is one of the main weapons when playing indoors, and Alcaraz could not find it throughout the match. He did not record a single ace, made three double faults and could only win 33% of the points played with his second serve. The opposite was true for Auger-Aliassime, who hit nine aces, no doubles and had 23 winners compared to Alcaraz's 8.
The second set followed the same pattern as the first. The most surprising of all was the attitude of a Spaniard who seemed resigned to his fate, the opposite of the energy and grit he usually shows. When he started to react, he was already 5-2 down and on his opponent's serve, who at that moment conceded the only break point that Alcaraz had. He saved it and took the match with an ease that nobody would have expected.
In the final, the Canadian will Holger Runo.
"I'm happy with my level against the best in the world"
"I served very well. Alcaraz didn't break me. There's one match left, but it's been a fantastic week. I played against the best in the world and I'm happy with my level," Auger-Aliassime said after the match.
It is no coincidence that he has performed well on indoor courts, which has been apparent to him since he was a child and is therefore optimistic about this part of the season: "I played a lot indoors as a child, so I'm used to this surface. I'm looking forward to the next few months because I know I can play at this level on a regular basis."
