‘Amazing battle with a legend’: Auger-Aliassime reflects on Djokovic heartbreak at Wimbledon

London, July 8 (IANS) Felix Auger-Aliassime admitted he was left disappointed after narrowly missing out on his maiden Wimbledon semi-final following a five-set defeat to seven-time champion Novak Djokovic in the men’s singles quarter-finals on Centre Court, but said he could still take pride in pushing the 24-time Grand Slam winner to the limit in one of the longest matches in the tournament’s history.

Despite the disappointment of another Grand Slam exit at the last-eight stage, Auger-Aliassime chose to focus on the level he produced against the 24-time major champion, saying the contest offered valuable lessons for future opportunities.

“Obviously it’s tough for me. Quarters in Paris, here. I had other chances in my career where tight matches like this didn’t go my way. I’ll have to see what I can do so it goes my way the next time. For now, I can be proud of the fight and then I move on, move on to what’s next,” Felix was quoted as saying by ATP.

The Canadian had pushed Djokovic to the brink after recovering from a break down in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth. Reflecting on where the momentum shifted, Auger-Aliassime admitted a brief lapse in concentration proved costly before he fought his way back into the contest.

“I had a lot of belief. I don’t think belief was a problem. I think after one set all, it was just this one game in the third set, I lost focus. After more than two-and-a-half hours of being very focused with him, I lost a little bit my focus.

“Fourth set I was fortunate to come back. He also had lost focus, a dip, to give me a chance to come back in the fourth set. Then I thought I played good, good tie-break,” he added.

The fifth set remained on serve throughout, with Auger-Aliassime saving every break point he faced before the match was ultimately decided in a 10-point tie-break. The Canadian acknowledged that Djokovic’s composure in decisive moments once again made the difference.

“But yeah, I think in the end he proves again that he’s good when he needs to. He’s solid, more solid than I was, when he needs to,” he said.

Explaining the challenge of breaking down Djokovic in pressure situations, Auger-Aliassime pointed to the Serbian’s ability to absorb aggression and force opponents into errors.

“You just feel like in tie-breaks or tight moments, either he serves well or he makes you play the extra shot. Just keeps you in a position where you can’t attack him, but he neutralises you until he waits for a mistake.

“So yeah, his game style, it’s not my natural game style. I’m more trying to play forward. But I’ll have to learn how to manage that, when to go forward, when to be a bit more solid in a way,” the Canadian stated.

Although he was unable to convert one of the biggest opportunities of his career, Auger-Aliassime insisted he never stopped believing he could complete the upset during the longest Wimbledon men’s singles quarter-final on record.

“To be honest, I had a lot of belief until the end. I was trying to serve well, trying to not go for too much, trying to play the smartest shot at every moment. Obviously sometimes one of the players is going to have to risk at some point a little bit more at certain points. But it didn’t pay off for me,” he concluded.

–IANS

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