Auger-Aliassime: “I’ve accepted it already. I leave Australia with my head held high”

Felix Auger-Aliassime said losing to Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday – after being two sets up and having match point in the fourth set – “sucks” but said he would leave Australia with his head held high after showing he belongs at the business end of the biggest events.

The 21-year-old led the No 2 seed by two sets to love and had match point on the Russian’s serve in the fourth set only for the US Open champion to save it and come back to win an epic five-setter and take his place in the semi-final.

“I can go back and think I wish I made different choices, or I wish Daniil didn’t play as good in certain moments,” he said. “At the end of the day, I can’t regret the effort that I put, and the chances I gave myself. I like to look at it in a positive way. Of course I would have loved to win. I love to win every time. It sucks to lose in the end, but that’s life. I just need to accept it.

“I wish I could go back and change it, but I can’t. So, you know, I have accepted it already. It is what it is. I look at it in a very positive way. So far I played two tournaments this year. I showed some good level again today.

“Yeah, it’s unfortunate I couldn’t win, but it was a good match. I showed good things. You know, I’m going to leave Australia with my head held high, and I’m going to go into the rest of the season knowing that I can play well, I can play well against the best players in the world.”

Having made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon last summer and his first Grand Slam semi-final at the US Open two months later, Auger-Aliassime said he had shown that he can test the world’s best in the biggest events.

“I always believed I could produce what I did tonight,” he said. “I showed it, but definitely it’s the difference between knowing that you have this inside of you and actually showing up and doing it and being close from winning, one point close.

“But of course it’s good, I mean, it’s good for myself. It’s a world of competition, so at the end of the day I think it’s a good message that I send to my fellow players, the people I’m competing with. I mean, I’m ready to test myself with the best, and I have proved it now time after time.

“I’m looking forward to the next time I can put myself in that situation again. I believe I can, you know, I can cross the line.”

You might also like this

Auger-Aliassime adding consistency as Canadian men break new ground

tennis majors

Daniil Medvedev in 2021: First Grand Slam title, emerging rivalry with Djokovic

tennis majors