Spoiler:
Canadian improves to 21-7 career record on grass
It was a bumpy ride, but Felix Auger-Aliassime found a way to get the job done at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle on Tuesday.
The fourth seed was fluent in the early stages before overcoming a second-set lapse to clinch a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 first-round victory against Marcos Giron at the ATP 500 event in north-west Germany.
Both previous tour-level meetings between Auger-Aliassime and Giron had ended with a 6-3, 6-2 scoreline in favour of the Canadian, the first of which took place in Halle at the quarter-final stage last year. Despite a lapse in Auger-Aliassime’s level in the second set, the World No. 9’s weapons again proved too much for the 28-year-old Giron as he broke the American’s serve five times in a two-hour, 13-minute victory.
Auger-Aliassime reached the semi-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week and Tuesday’s win over Giron improved the Canadian’s career record on grass to 21-7. Possessing a big serve and an ability to hit clean winners that make him a potent threat on the surface, the 2021 semi-finalist will be optimistic of another deep run in Halle as he chases a second title of the season.
Auger-Aliassime found his rhythm early in his third tour-level meeting with the American. The fourth seed was fluent on serve and consistent from the baseline as he fired 12 winners in the first set, including four aces. That dominance behind his delivery allowed him to strike freely in return games, and the Canadian broke Giron in the fifth and ninth games to ease to the opening set.
The World No. 9’s extra power continued to penetrate the Giron serve in the second set. Auger-Aliassime broke in the fourth and sixth games, but the No. 60-ranked Giron showed resilience to respond with an immediate break of his own on both occasions. The American continued to capitalise as his opponent’s level dropped to clinch a third crucial break for 6-5, before serving out to level the match and complete an unlikely turnaround of momentum.
With Auger-Aliassime immediately falling to 0/40 on his own serve at the start of the decider, the match was on a kinfe-edge, but the situation appeared to awaken the Canadian. He recovered to hold and then broke crucially in the sixth game before staying solid to improve his ATP Head2Head series lead over Giron to 3-0.
Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent on the grass in Halle is another American, Mackenzie McDonald, who defeated Swiss wild card Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday.
It was a bumpy ride, but Felix Auger-Aliassime found a way to get the job done at the Terra Wortmann Open in Halle on Tuesday.
The fourth seed was fluent in the early stages before overcoming a second-set lapse to clinch a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 first-round victory against Marcos Giron at the ATP 500 event in north-west Germany.
Both previous tour-level meetings between Auger-Aliassime and Giron had ended with a 6-3, 6-2 scoreline in favour of the Canadian, the first of which took place in Halle at the quarter-final stage last year. Despite a lapse in Auger-Aliassime’s level in the second set, the World No. 9’s weapons again proved too much for the 28-year-old Giron as he broke the American’s serve five times in a two-hour, 13-minute victory.
Auger-Aliassime reached the semi-finals in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week and Tuesday’s win over Giron improved the Canadian’s career record on grass to 21-7. Possessing a big serve and an ability to hit clean winners that make him a potent threat on the surface, the 2021 semi-finalist will be optimistic of another deep run in Halle as he chases a second title of the season.
Auger-Aliassime found his rhythm early in his third tour-level meeting with the American. The fourth seed was fluent on serve and consistent from the baseline as he fired 12 winners in the first set, including four aces. That dominance behind his delivery allowed him to strike freely in return games, and the Canadian broke Giron in the fifth and ninth games to ease to the opening set.
The World No. 9’s extra power continued to penetrate the Giron serve in the second set. Auger-Aliassime broke in the fourth and sixth games, but the No. 60-ranked Giron showed resilience to respond with an immediate break of his own on both occasions. The American continued to capitalise as his opponent’s level dropped to clinch a third crucial break for 6-5, before serving out to level the match and complete an unlikely turnaround of momentum.
With Auger-Aliassime immediately falling to 0/40 on his own serve at the start of the decider, the match was on a kinfe-edge, but the situation appeared to awaken the Canadian. He recovered to hold and then broke crucially in the sixth game before staying solid to improve his ATP Head2Head series lead over Giron to 3-0.
Auger-Aliassime’s next opponent on the grass in Halle is another American, Mackenzie McDonald, who defeated Swiss wild card Marc-Andrea Huesler 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday.
