Auger-Aliassime comes back to beat Sinner in Cincinnati

Felix Auger-Aliassime came back from a set and a break down to beat Jannik Sinner 2-6, 7-6(1), 6-1 in the Western & Southern Open third round on Thursday night. Auger-Aliassime trailed 6-2, 4-2 at one stage and Sinner even had a game point to go up 5-2 in the second set, but the Canadian recovered from the brink of defeat to prevail after two hours and 26 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime saves two match points against Sinner

Even after breaking back for 3-4 in the second, Auger-Aliassime was not quite off to the races. Sinner would have more chances — in fact, the Italian got a look at two match points with his opponent serving at 5-6. Auger-Aliassime trailed 15-40 in that game but saved both match points and ended up holding to force a tiebreaker.

The world No 9 dominated the ‘breaker seven points to one and from there it was all over for Sinner in the third.

Auger-Aliassime will face Croat Borna Coric in Friday’s quarter-finals.

To come back and play that way in the tiebreak and the third set, that means a lot to me going forward.

Felix Auger-Aliassime

“Jannik was just playing too good,” Cincinnati’s No 6 seed said of his early deficit. “I didn’t have a great start, I was missing a lot. But I just had no time. He was playing so fast, so precise, serving well. For a set and a half it was just too good. That game he broke me in the second, returning on the baseline for three returns in a row, you can’t do much better, so I had to give it to him.

“But at the end, I was still on the court trying to find ways, trying to fight and trying to see how I could make him miss a few more balls and to put myself in a competing position and I did that well…. To come back and play that way in the tiebreak and the third set, that means a lot to me going forward.”

Cincinnati Masters 1000, other round of 16 matches and results

• Ben Shelton vs. Cameron Norrie
• Marin Čilić vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• John Isner beat Sebastian Korda (WC): 7-6(3), 1-6, 7-6(4)
• Borna Coric beat Roberto Bautista Agut (15): 6-2, 6-3
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (4) beat Diego Schwartzman (13): 6-3, 6-3
• Daniil Medvedev (1) beat Denis Shapovalov: 7-5, 7-5
• Taylor Fritz (11) beat Andrey Rublev (6): 6-7(4), 6-2, 7-5

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