Photo: ITF/Corinne Dubreuil
Félix Auger-Aliassime is in fine form at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris as he finds himself in the third round after a decisive victory over Maximilian Marterer on Tuesday.
The Canadian was in control in all phases of the match and was particularly impressive on return, picking apart the German’s serve in a lopsided 6-0, 6-1 win to reach the last sixteen at the Olympics for the first time.
Leylah Annie Fernandez also faced off with a German opponent on Tuesday but was unable to overcome Angelique Kerber, falling to the three-time major champion in straight sets.
While Auger-Aliassime was very solid in his victory, hitting 22 winners to 17 unforced errors and losing just three points on his first serve, he benefited from a poor performance from Marterer, who committed 23 unforced errors.
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Auger-Aliassime wasted little time in piling the pressure on his German opponent, quickly racing ahead 15-40 in the opening game and finally breaking through on his fourth break point to grab an immediate lead.
Despite having some difficulty in his first two service games, getting pushed to deuce in both, the Canadian was able to keep his advantage. And every time Marterer stepped up to the line, Auger-Aliassime was all over him.
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He converted his third break point in the third game to make it a double break and then ripped a backhand winner to set up three break points in the fifth. The Canadian converted the second to make it three breaks on his way to a 33-minute bagel.
Everything was clicking for Auger-Aliassime and he kept the good times rolling in the second set, firing a forehand winner down the line to break again in the opening game of the second set.
The slight difficulties he had been having on serve early in the match were gone and he consolidated the break with a hold to love. Another break and hold followed before finally in the 11th game Marterer was able to hold to get on the board.
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That was all the German could muster as, after another hold to love, Auger-Aliassime capped off the victory with his sixth break of serve.
Auger-Aliassime will now look to become the first Canadian in over a century to reach the singles quarter-finals at the Olympics. To do so, he will either need to beat Sebastian Ofner of Austria or to overturn his 0-7 head-to-head record against Daniil Medvedev. It would be a first clash on clay between the Canadian and the world No. 5.
Fernandez Ousted From Singles at Olympics by Kerber
Leylah Annie Fernandez’s run at the Paris Olympics came to an end on Tuesday morning at the hands of former world No. 1 Angelique Kerber.
Inability to hold serve dogged Fernandez in her second-round win but she was able to survive. That was not the case against Kerber, as Fernandez was broken more than she held in a 6-4, 6-3 loss.
Fernandez only won 44 per cent of points on her first serve and faced a dozen break points, only saving five of them. While the Canadian was efficient when converting her own opportunities, she only had five break points in the match.
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The tone was set early when the pair exchanged breaks within the first four games. Kerber nearly made it three breaks in a row, but Fernandez saved a break point in the fifth game to go up 3-2. It was the last time the Canadian led in the match.
When Kerber broke for a second time to go ahead 4-3, she quickly backed it up with a hold to love. Fernandez was not able to claw that break back as the German took the opening set.
Rather than the expected norm where breaking serve was critical to victory, it was holding serve that made the difference in the second set. In fact, one hold made all the difference as eight of the nine games were breaks.
That decisive hold came in the fourth game when Kerber managed to get through with relative ease. When she broke in the ensuing game to go up 4-1, she always had an extra break in her pocket even though Fernandez was able to break twice more, including the first time the German served for the match.
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But despite delaying defeat, the Canadian could not deny Kerber as she was broken for a fifth time in the set to see her singles campaign come to an end.
The Olympics are not over for Fernandez as she and Gabriela Dabrowski are still in the women’s doubles. They defeated the French pair of Clara Burel and Varvara Gracheva in straight sets on Monday and will face either Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider or Aussies Olivia Gadecki and Ajla Tomljanovic in the second round
