Advertisement

The dream week ends for Quebec teenagers Auger-Aliassime and Robillette-Millard in Granby

Stephanie Myles
The 14-year-old finally hit the wall Friday night in Granby. (Stephanie Myles/opencourt.ca)

As he walked off the court following a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 loss to No. 4 seed Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, 14-year-old Félix Auger-Aliassime looked like an exhausted kid who just needed to crawl into bed to sleep for a week.

The clock struck midnight early in the second set of that quarter-final match at the Granby Challenger when Auger-Aliassime, having come back from a 1-4 deficit to win the first set, had three break points to take a 3-1 lead in the second set.

Given how rattled Nishioka – himself all of 19 – appeared to be after a series of rather dubious line calls went against him, it seemed possible the teenager could reach the semi-finals.

But Nishioka, who was solid as a rock most of the match, putting the ball deep, returning everything and even coming up with big serves when he needed to, rallied to hold.

Auger-Aliassime won just one game after that.

At 3-2, Nishioka had a conversation with the tournament referee about the line calling and – coincidentally or not – there was a shift change with fresh officials. Meanwhile, Auger-Aliassime was having treatment on his left hip.

While it didn't appear to visibly hamper him, there's no doubt the kid was running on fumes after winning four consecutive matches (two in qualifying, two in the main draw) against professional opponents before arriving on court to a full house, on a Friday night, with the match televised nationally on TVA Sports.

During his post-match interview, Auger-Aliassime could barely speak, even through questions about an American tennis analyst's Tweet about him, and about what top-10 players inspired him. It wasn't exactly the time for that sort of thing – how often does a player lose a match and then have to stand through a post-match interview two minutes later? But the 14-year-old handled it with the poise and good manners he had displayed throughout the week.

"I think I had a very good week week, too bad about today. I felt like I had the lead in the second. I had my chances, I didn’t take them. Credit to him for a good match," Auger-Aliassime said. "Maybe there was a little drop in energy, and my hip problem diminished my mobility. The level of my game dropped, from the second set to the end."

Auger-Aliassime said the level of his tennis, and of his confidence, rose with his experiences this week. "I have some work to do on the physical side to finish matches like this with quality," he said.

For those already speculating that Auger-Aliassime deserves a wild card into the Rogers Cup on the strength of his efforts this week, he didn't even mention Montreal at all during the interview (not even the qualifying), saying he would play the Canadian under-18 championships, and other junior tournaments this summer.

There are four wild cards available in Montreal. Vasek Pospisil, ranked No. 30 this week but too low for direct entry when the deadline came, will need one. Frank Dancevic will get one. So, too, will Filip Peliwo in all likelihood. As for the fourth and final one, the deserving candidate is probably North Vancouver's Philip Bester, who is on the comeback trail after hip surgery and is in the Granby semi-finals Saturday (where he will face Nishioka) as well as the doubles final with Peter Polansky.

If Bester can beat Nishioka, his ranking likely will be high enough to get him into the qualifying at the upcoming U.S. Open, which would be a major feat for a player ranked No. 598 a year ago on this date, and No. 305 coming into the tournament. He already has gained nearly 50 spots in the rankings and could add another 40 or more with a win Saturday.

At 26, Bester has played just one Grand Slam tournament in his career; he lost in the first round of qualifying at the 2011 Australian Open.

The Quebec teenagers during happier times – as in 24 hours before, when both had posted impressive victories in the second round of the Granby Challenger. It came to an end Friday night. (Stephanie Myles/opencourt.ca)
The Quebec teenagers during happier times – as in 24 hours before, when both had posted impressive victories in the second round of the Granby Challenger. It came to an end Friday night. (Stephanie Myles/opencourt.ca)

As for Auger-Aliassime's national training centre buddy Charlotte Robillard-Millette, she also fell in the women's singles quarter-finals in the second night match Thursday.

The 16-year-old was no match for defending champion Stéphanie Foretz's experience, precision and savvy.

Robillard-Millette had her moments, but she lost 6-4, 6-3, bruised a few racquets, and stomped off the court without stopping to do her own post-match interview. In her defence, it's an unorthodox situation, and she may not have known she was expected to do it.

Still, the 16-year-old will earn 15 ranking points, nearly doubling her previous total of 16, and will move from No. 803 in the WTA Tour rankings to somewhere between No. 630 and No. 635.