Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime bounced back from his recent losses to register a massive win over tennis legend Rafael Nadal in their ATP Finals singles match in Turin, Italy on Tuesday.
The fifth seed downed the top seed Nadal 6-3, 6-4.
"I think having one match here, I got used to the conditions on centre court." Auger-Aliassime was quoted as saying by ATP. "It helped me a lot. I felt my game was better today. My serve was great and return and backhand was much better. I was hitting it with more consistency and quality. When I am playing like this, I have proven I can compete and beat some of the best players in the world," he added.
The Canadian withstood some early pressure from Nadal to recover from 15/40 to hold serve in both first and seventh games of set one. Felix's shotmaking and serves were precise. He will be facing Taylor Fritz in his final round-robin match with an eye for a semifinal spot on his tournament debut.
"I am one win, one loss now. If I can get two wins, hopefully I can get through, so let us see how it goes," Auger-Aliassime said. "They will play it out tonight and I will be ready for Taylor in two days. It won't be easy. He has been playing really good this year and these conditions are perfect for him."
"I will use the experience of Toni [Nadal] in these situations. He has been a great help to me. I have a tonne of respect for him and his family. It is special to play Rafa with Toni here, but at the same time we are competitors, and we try our best."
Felix fired 15 aces in the match which lasted one hour, 57 minutes.
The 22-year-old was really happy to have defeated his childhood idol for the first time ever. They have faced each other thrice. He was extremely close to a win over Nadal during Roland Garros in May, but the Spain legend was victorious in a five-set epic.
"I was not sure If I would be here one day or if I could only dream of it," said Auger-Aliassime. "The age difference is huge, and it proves what a champion he is and what an example because he is still here at 36, battling against guys in their young 20s. He is a great champion and has a great attitude," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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