Hometown hope Felix Auger-Aliassime was sent packing from the National Bank Open in the quartefinals by Casper Ruud, while Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios was knocked out by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on Friday.
It was a rough day for the Montreal fans. Local favorite Felix Auger-Aliassime was routined by the consistent Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-2. Auger-Aliassime was outclassed from the moment Ruud broke back in the second game of the match for 1-1. The Norwegian reeled off the next nine games as Auger-Aliassime struggled to find the court.
The lopsided score largely kept the crowd out of the match. They were prepared to applaud any success…there were just too few successes for them to make a difference. A total of 21 unforced errors flew from the Canadian’s racket.
After the match, Ruud observed, “I think we can all agree that we’ve seen Felix play better than he did today…. At the same time, I was making him play a lot of extra balls here and there.”
Ruud will take on Nick Kyrgios vanquisher Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals. Hurkacz had a three-set battle with Kyrgios in the first match of the day, winning 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1. The loss was largely without controversy, although Kyrgios did take exception to the bathroom break Hurkacz took after the Aussie won the second set. He complained loudly to the chair umpire while Hurkacz was off court.
The break did seem to interrupt Kyrgios’s rhythm. Once the match resumed, Kyrgios was out-of-sorts. He only managed to win one more game as the Pole rolled to the win.
nice one, Hubi
Hurkacz plays like Medvedev , and did what he couldnt here .
Another player he reminds me of is Florian Mayer .