Yahoo Sports 
On a brutally hot day, Grand Slam rookie Félix Auger-Aliassime bows out in New York
NEW YORK American Tommy Paul had never faced Canadian teenaged phenom Félix Auger-Aliassime before. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t see him coming from a mile away.
“We watched him online play one of my friends in the (Granby) Challenger - Darian King – and thought, ‘Wow, this kid’s got a pretty good level.’ We were all like, for this tournament who’s going play him – one of us is going to play him. Of course, it was me,” Paul said, laughing, after she squeaked out a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory that easily could have gone the other way.
For a second-round junior boys’ singles match at the US Open, there was a fair bit of anticipation leading into Tuesday’s clash. Most often matches don’t live up to the advance billing. But this one did, even though Paul, older by three years, already a professional, a junior French Open champion and a player who got through the qualifying in the men’s event a week ago, got the win.
“He wasn’t playing this best tennis, but he stayed pretty calm. And I think that made the difference,” said Auger-Aliassime, who appeared to be feeling the effects of the heat as early as the first set, wilted some at end of the second, and got a couple of second winds in the decider before running out of gas.
The conditions were tough – temperatures rising to 36C, with high humidity. The heat rule was invoked for the junior matches in the afternoon, including this one, which meant a 10-minute break after the second set. In the end, the challenging heat might have been the difference in the match, with Paul clearly the fresher of the two down the home stretch.
“I went out there, I started not bad. I think I maybe ate too much because in the first set I thought I was about to puke, not feeling good at all. But I managed to put up the intensity a bit on my return game and got the break,” said Auger-Aliassime, who certainly had some opportunities to close out the match in straight sets, despite being down an early break in the second.
“It was a match I could have won, if I would have played my best tennis, for sure it would have been different. He was a little better in these conditions and he stayed pretty calm. He was the better player today,” Auger-Aliassime said.
There was a good crowd on hand. Some agents, college recruiters, journalists curious to get their first live look at the kid who made such a splash over the winter and in July in Granby with his efforts in his first pro tournaments.
As well, there were plenty of players on hand, including Paul’s fellow young Americans Michael Mmoh, Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz.
“Last night everyone was like, who do you play? I said, ‘I play Felix.’ They were like, ‘Ooohhhhhhh, I’m DEFINITELY coming out to watch that, all that stuff,” Paul said.
Auger-Aliassime had plenty of support as well, with doubles partner and countryman Denis Shapovalov, Montreal training centre teammate Benjamin Sigouin (who lost in the qualifying) and close pal Charlotte Robillard-Millette, who had to retire from her singles match (and withdraw from the doubles) because of an ongoing abdominal injury suffered in her semi-final last week in Repentigny. Robillard-Millette’s entire family also was there as well to cheer him on.
Paul felt a lot of pressure, feeling he should win against the younger, less-experienced player.
“I couldn’t say he surprised me in any way, maybe with his level a little bit. I didn’t underestimate him but he really came out and played high-level tennis. In the first set, he was killing me with the backhand,” Paul said. “He’s good. He plays backhand crosscourt really well. Also, he plays a good heavy ball; it’s pretty quick and also can penetrate through the court with his forehand well.
“His first serve is pretty good, tough to return, and his second serve return? He was attacking that pretty well,” he added.
Paul was up 5-3 in the third set when he took his foot off the gas a little. Auger-Aliassime saved two match points, drew even, but then had nothing left.
A short while later, he kept his commitment in the doubles as he and Shapovalov won their first-round match 6-3, 6-7 (5), [10-7] over a team from Argentina.
Auger-Aliassime looked pretty lively, for an exhausted teenager. Paul, on the other hand, didn’t look so good in his own doubles match. He and partner William Blumberg lost to the team of Felipe Cunha Silva and Alejandro Tabilo, the latter a virtually unknown 18-year-old who represents Canada, lives in Florida but seems to be more Chilean than Canadian.
The other Canadian doubles team, Bianca Andreescu and Katherine Sebov, never took the court. Andreescu, who won the big junior event in Repentigny last week, had no energy left and lost her first-round match Monday. Her partner, fellow Ontarian Katherine Sebov, lost her first-round singles match Sunday and pulled out of the doubles.
So Shapovalov, who defeated Ulises Blanch of the U.S. 6-2, 6-2 in his second-round singles match, is the only Canadian left standing despite a bad shoulder that was a question mark before the tournament began. He will play American Alex Rybakov in the third round Wednesday.
In doubles, Shapovalov and Auger-Aliassime will meet … Cunha Silva and Tabilo.
