Laver Cup: Felix Auger-Aliassime surprises against Novak Djokovic
Felix Auger-Aliassime surprisingly won his singles against Novak Djokovic . This puts Team World in the lead for the first time in the 2022 Laver Cup.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Sep 25, 2022, 04:59 pm
After the bitter, wafer-thin opening defeat on day three at the Laver Cup for Team Europe, a one-off victory by Novak Djokovic over Canadian youngster Felix Auger-Aliassime was actually almost planned for Björn Borg's team. Especially since Team World had already come up to 8:7 with the double win.
Novak Djokovic initially presented himself in this condition, the Serb seamlessly followed up on the great performances of yesterday Saturday - and was quickly in front with a break. But then a break in round one, Felix Auger-Aliassime stepped up a gear, managed the rebreak and a little later surprisingly closed round one 6:3.
Strong as a Bear Auger Aliassime
Now the Canadian had finally gotten the upper hand, the Canadian got a quick break to make it 2-0 and was now faced with a Novak Djokovic who left some energy to be desired - and also seemed to have problems with his wrist. This was edited with a tape before the game.
Playfully, Djokovic then went uphill again, the Serb made the rebreak in the middle of the second set to zero, more should not happen against the servers in this round. Logical consequence: A tiebreak had to make the decision. And in this, Felix Auger-Aliassime managed the first mini-break with a lot of luck and a net edge.
The Canadian, who served very well in this phase and also acted very firmly from the baseline, shouldn't let that take him away, after a little more than one and a half hours the youngster fixed the 6: 3 and 7: 6 (4) success. And put Team World ahead for the first time in that clash, 10-8.