Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić lost to Canadian tennis player Felix Auger Aliassime 2-6, 7-6 (9), 6-2, 7-6 (4) in the Australian Open last 16 on Monday.
Marin played a great first set to take the lead. In the second, he had a set point in the tie-break at 6-5, but Auger Aliassime returned to win the second set and ultimately turn the match in his favor.
In the third set, there was no chance to break until the third game. Čilić then saved four break points for a turnaround but failed on the fifth. Auger-Aliassime broke in the seventh game and won the third set on his serve. Čilić was unable to come back.
At the beginning of the fourth set, Čilić saved two break points, and the set ended in a tie-break. In the 13th game, Auger-Aliassime took a 3-0 lead which he maintained to win the match 6-4 and advance to the quarterfinals.
This was Auger-Aliassime’s first victory in his fourth match against Čilić, who had won in the previous three matches. Čilić missed the opportunity to reach the quarterfinals of the Australian Open for the third time in his career. In 2010, he played in the semifinals, and in 2018, he lost in the final to Roger Federer.
Auger-Aliassime will play in the quarterfinals against the second-best tennis player in the world, Russian Daniil Medvedev, who defeated American Maxim Cressy 6-2, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (4), 7-5.
Petra Martic and Shelby Rogers have reached the women’s doubles quarterfinals in Melbourne, beating the fifth-seeded side, Chilean Alex Guarachi and American Nicole Melichar-Martinez in two sets (6-2, 7-6 (2).
This is their second joint quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament after they managed to do the same last year at Roland Garros. They will face Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Ena Shibahara for a spot in the semis.
Ivan Dodig will play in the Australian Open mixed doubles quarterfinals. Dodig and French partner Kristina Mladenovic defeated the Australian combination of Arina Rodionova and Marc Polmans 6-2, 6-7 (8), 10-8.
They will play against Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus for a spot in the semis.
Source: HTS
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