Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime breezes into round of 16 at Australian Open with straight-sets win
CBC
For the second year in a row at the Australian Open, Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to the second week.
The 21-year-old Canadian, the No. 9 seed, swiftly dispatched No. 24 seed Dan Evans 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 Saturday to move into the round of 16.
On Monday, he'll play No. 27 seed Marin Cilic for a spot in the quarter-finals. Cilic knocked off No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.
This is the fourth time in his last five Grand Slam appearances that Auger-Aliassime has reached the second week. That includes a semifinal effort at the US Open last September, and a Wimbledon quarter-final last July.
It's starting to feel like familiar territory.
"It's like everything in life. When you break new ground you don't feel, let's say, as comfortable, or you kind of feel out of your comfort zone. Now, of course, playing more and more Grand Slams and [having gone] to the semifinals, I feel more in my place," Auger-Aliassime said.
The 21-year-old survived gruelling matches in his first two rounds at Melbourne Park. He was down two sets to one, and needed three hours, 40 minutes to get past Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori in the first round on Tuesday.
Two days later, it took him four hours and 20 minutes to play four tiebreaks against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain. Auger-Aliassime won three of them, and prevailed largely on the strength of a great serving day.
Evans posed a different challenge.
The 31-year-old Brit put a 6-2, 6-3 beatdown on Auger-Aliassime at Melbourne Park a year ago in the final of a tune-up tournament, just before the Australian Open. It was Auger-Aliassime's seventh unsuccessful tournament final (he has since added an eighth).
And it was the first career ATP Tour title for Evans, then 30.
A year later, even if he still is in search of that first title, the Canadian's maturation is evident.
In a far more high-profile situation, he produced a far more positive outcome.
"I didn't have the attitude I needed [last year]. I didn't have the desire. I didn't serve as well. My level of play, the person I was then probably has nothing to do with who I am today," Auger-Aliassime said of that final. "Today I'm more stable mentally. I know what I want to do on the court. I'm prepared to face different situations.
