Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime left the U.S. Open with pride and perspective after a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 semi-final defeat to defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday, saying only time will tell if he can return to the sport’s summit after an inspired fortnight in New York.
The 25th seed delivered his best tennis in years, showing renewed conviction with victories over world number three Alexander Zverev, 15th seed Andrey Rublev and eighth seed Alex de Minaur en route to his first Grand Slam semi-final since 2021.
After a gutsy performance that pushed Sinner to four sets, the Italian world number one ultimately proved too strong.
Yet the Canadian said he would carry plenty of positives forward from Flushing Meadows.
“I just want to take a moment to soak in the tournament and everything that was good,” Auger-Aliassime told reporters.
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“You obviously build your future with what’s good in you, and then you try to improve a little bit, step by step. So I’m just trying to take that all in.”
“We were fighting out there. We had some good points. I was going toe to toe at times, some sets dominating. Of course, I feel competitive, but the future will tell how close I am” to Sinner’s level, he added.
Despite converting only one of his 10 break points during the match, Auger-Aliassime said he has “no regrets,” while he is proud of having stuck to his aggressive playing style.
“I can explain all of (the missed break points) to you, but it’s over,” he said. “I don’t have regrets. I played my way. I played my game. You know, you kind of live and die with your choices.”
Sinner’s semi-final victory set up a blockbuster title clash with Carlos Alcaraz — who defeated 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic to advance to the final.
The hard-fought victory by Sinner makes him only the fourth man since the professional era began in 1968 to reach all four Grand Slam finals in a single season, joining Djokovic, Rod Laver and Roger Federer.
Reacting to his victory over the Canadian, Sinner said “Felix and I played in the last tournament (in Cincinnati). He’s a completely different player. He was serving much better, hitting every shot much better, so it was a tough match.”
“He’s an amazing player and an amazing person so it’s always nice to share some nice matches with him.”