Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur have at least one more round of facing unseeded opponents, but both could face potentially difficult matchups at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. Auger-Aliassime awaits Jack Draper, while De Minaur is aiming for revenge against Cristian Garin.
Jack Draper vs. (6) Felix Auger-Aliassime
Auger-Aliassime has been wildly up and down in 2022, which is nothing new for him. That includes his performances at Grand Slams, as he reached the Australian Open quarterfinals (had a match point against Daniil Medvedev) and the French Open fourth round (took Rafael Naal to five sets) but lost right away at Wimbledon to Maxime Cressy. The eighth-ranked Canadian’s hard-court results this summer are semis (Los Cabos), quarters (Montreal), and quarters (Cincinnati), but he had winnable matches in each of his losses and his 6-1, 6-2 setback against Casper Ruud in Montreal was especially bad.
Following a four-set win over Alexander Ritschard in the U.S. Open first round, Auger-Aliassime runs into Draper on Wednesday. Draper is also one of the game’s rising stars, as the 20-year-old Brit is up to No. 53 in the world thanks in part to 14 of his 16 career ATP-level match victories coming this season. Draper advanced to quarterfinals in both Montreal and Winston-Salem before crushing Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday. The left-hander has more momentum behind him right now and is ready to announce himself on a Grand Slam stage. This really wouldn’t be a big upset.
Pick: Draper in 4
Cristian Garin vs. (18) Alex de Minaur
De Minaur and Garin will be squaring off for the third time in their careers on Wednesday. The head-to-head series stands at 3-1 in favor of De Minaur, but he is the one who is actually seeking a bit of revenge. They just faced each other in a memorable fourth-round showdown at Wimbledon, where Garin saved two match points and ended up completing a comeback from two sets down for a 2-6, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(6) victory.
Based on their previous history, you have to like De Minaur’s chances of avenging that defeat. The 20th-ranked Australian dominated each of their first three meetings in straight sets, including twice on hard courts–6-3, 7-5, 6-3 in the same round of this same event three years ago and 6-4, 6-2 last spring in Indian Wells. Moreover, De Minaur has remained in strong form since Wimbledon–including a second Atlanta title and a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 rout of Filip Krajinovic on Monday. Garin went back to clay following his success at the All-England Club and suffered first-round losses twice in a row. The 86th-ranked Chilean did well to beat Jiri Lehecka 3-6, 7-6(3), 7-5, 6-1 in his opener at Flushing Meadows, but that certainly doesn’t mean he is going to upset De Minaur for a second straight time.
Pick: De Minaur in 3
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Will be a very bad loss for Felix if he loses
Went out first round at Wimbledon to Cressy
FAA has been very average at best this year so I wouldn’t consider it a bad loss. People are still buying the hype he had a few years ago, and he has yet to deliver.
C’mon Jack!
C’mon Andy!
Massive win for Draper. Pretty disastrous loss for Felix raising a lot of questions. He started the year so well with a mp against Med at the AO. Won a tournament. Took Rafa to 5 at RG playing really well.
Didn’t see the match but very disappointing for him.
Oh and Ricky was right and I was wrong!!😀
I often am mind you..😀
Draper reminded me of rafa..similar style…just not the energy bunny though that rafa was when younger