Félix Auger-Aliassime received the clay again beneath his toes this week however couldn’t discover a well beyond Matteo Berrettini on Friday within the Gstaad quarter-finals, falling to the Italian in straight units.
After a first-round loss at Wimbledon, the Canadian was again on clay seeking to get re-acclimated forward of the 2024 Summer time Olympics in Paris, which begins in per week’s time.
There was little between the 2 large servers on the Swiss filth on Friday, with possibilities to interrupt few and much between. In the long run, Berrettini was in a position to play a bit higher within the tiebreaks to advance with a 7-6(7), 7-6(2) win.
The match was determined by just some factors within the breakers. Statistically, the pair had been extremely tight with the identical variety of aces, almost equivalent winner-to-error counts (18 to fifteen for Auger-Aliassime, 16 to 16 for Berrettini), and saved each break level they confronted. They even each received 58 factors on their very own serve, though the Italian received 5 extra factors on return.
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In a primary set largely dominated by serve, the closest calls got here in back-to-back video games halfway by way of the opener.
First at 2-2, Berrettini took benefit of some poor play from the Canadian to carry 4 break factors. However every time, Auger-Aliassime managed to seek out the shot he wanted, together with three large serves, to flee the menace. Within the very subsequent recreation, the Canadian had a take a look at love-40 however missed all three, together with two returns, and Berrettini held.
These had been the one break factors within the match.
The tiebreak was filled with nervy errors from each males however it was Berrettini protecting himself in entrance. The Italian by no means trailed and benefitted from a poor forehand from Auger-Aliassime that clipped the tape on his third set level to wrap up the opener.
Set two was much more serve-dominated, with neither participant holding a break level and just one recreation going to deuce.
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In contrast to the primary set, the tiebreak was not shut. Berrettini got here out firing, racing out to a 5-0 lead. He had 5 match factors up 6-1 and he transformed his second with a giant serve to advance to the semifinals.
Gstaad was Auger-Aliassime’s first quarter-final since reaching the Madrid last in Could. In his opening match, the Canadian defeated Yannick Hanfmann in straight units. He now heads to Paris for the Olympics, the place play will start on Saturday, July 27.
