The Félix Auger-Aliassime on the Lyon clay will last 2 hours 45 minutes. Quebec lost in three sets of 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 and 5-7 to Italian Lorenzo Musetti on Tuesday in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament.
The game was played in small detail, as the stats show, with the two players winning half of the 208 exchanges. But Musetti, the world’s 88th striker, found a way to win crucial points at the right times against his 19-ranked Canadian rival, who beat them in the second round of Barcelona last month.
The first set ended in the tiebreaker, with the Italian managing to manage three small points after saving five break points throughout the set.
Then Auger surprised Eliassim in the final moments of the match. Then Quebec was used to force a decisive match. But a new fracture, confirmed by a double error from Oger-Aliassem moreover, was signaling the end of the meeting.
Musetti saved 8 from 12 break points.
However, Auger-Aliassim showed character midway through the third half. Late 2-5, he kept serving twice and managed a break to re-balance the game.
Musetti will face American Sebastian Korda in the next round, who introduced himself to Frenchman Pierre Hughes Herbert in two rounds 7-6 (7/5) and 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime will now focus on the French Open, whose qualifiers begin May 24. The 20-year-old Quebec won four clay court matches against Roland Garros, all in Barcelona and Rome.
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