Wimbledon 2021: Felix Auger-Aliassime knocks out fourth seed Alexander Zverev
- Published
Wimbledon 2021 on the BBC |
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Venue: All England Club Dates: 28 June-11 July |
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. Full details here |
Felix Auger-Aliassime beat fourth seed Alexander Zverev in a pulsating five-set match at Wimbledon to reach his first Grand Slam singles quarter-final.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime won the match 6-4 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 3-6 6-4 as he saw off a spirited fightback from Zverev.
"It's a dream come true. Surely this is the best victory of my life," Auger-Aliassime, 20, said after his victory over the 24-year-old German.
He will play Italian Matteo Berrettini in the last eight.
Auger-Aliassime, who served 17 aces, had battled to a two-set lead but Zverev seemed to have wrestled the momentum back when he squared the match at two apiece.
Auger-Aliassime went 2-0 up in the decider but Zverev broke back for 2-2, only for the Canadian to make the decisive move in the seventh game.
He fluffed a drop shot with his first match point but seized his second opportunity at the net with a powerful smash to clinch the win in four hours and two minutes.
Berrettini had earlier cruised through with a confident straight-set victory over Ilya Ivashka.
The seventh seed looked in the kind of imperious form that took him to the Queen's title last month as he outclassed Ivashka 6-4 6-3 6-1.
Berrettini lost just one service game to the Belarusian as he sealed victory with a stylish forehand winner.
Breaks galore for Khachanov and Korda
Russian Karen Khachanov booked his place in the last eight by winning a five-set thriller against American Sebastian Korda 3-6 6-4 6-3 5-7 10-8.
An enthralling final set on court 18 featured a remarkable 13 breaks of serve, as Khachanov squandered three opportunities to serve out for the match at 5-4, 6-5 and 7-6.
At 9-8 Khachanov, seeded 25th, eventually managed to hold his serve to win a gruelling match in three hours and 49 minutes.
"I would say it's not common, but it is what it is with the nerves," Khachanov said of the 13 breaks.
"When you are returning better, you start to read the serves better, and then in play, in the rallies, both of us were more stressed, more tight.
"At the end, the one who deal betters with this wins the match. It was more about this rather than who plays better."
The 13 breaks of serve is a record for a set in a men's singles match at Wimbledon, dating back to 1977.
Khachanov will face Canada's Denis Shapovalov, after Andy Murray's conqueror breezed through with a 6-1 6-3 7-5 win over Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain.
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia has been knocked out as Hungarian Marton Fucsovics produced a brilliant comeback to triumph 6-3 4-6 4-6 6-0 6-3.
World number 48 Fucsovics will face top seed Novak Djokovic in the next round after the Serb's routine 6-2 6-4 6-2 win over Chile's Cristian Garin.
Second seed Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz will resume on Tuesday after their match on court two was suspended because of rain.
Russian Medvedev has a one-set lead over his opposite number from Poland with the score 4-3 in latter's favour, on serve, in the fourth set. The match will restart on Centre Court at 13:30 BST, before two women's quarter-finals.
The winner will play eight-time champion Roger Federer, who beat Italian 23rd seed Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 6-4 6-2.
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