Felix Auger-Aliassime has become a victim of harsh criticism from Canadian fans after his first-round loss against Flavio Cobolli at the Canadian Open on Thursday. Fans are quite disappointed with this loss, especially on his home soil.
After winning a bronze medal in the mixed doubles event and almost winning a bronze in the men’s singles event at the Paris 2024 Olympics, expectations were quite high from the number 1 player in Canada.
However, Aliassime lost the first match itself in straight sets to the Italian rising star. The defeat was disappointing and humiliating at the same time as the Canadian only won 3 and 2 games in the first and second set respectively. This made fans believe he doesn’t take ATP events seriously.
Enraged and shocked by the loss, fans accused the Olympic bronze medalist of not showing intensity and not giving his all when competing in a Master 1000 event. The sentiments of fans are at their peak as they believe that he just played the tournament for the sake of it.
Washington runner up Flavio Cobolli easily beats Canadian #1 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2 in 67 to reach the 2nd round in Montreal. He was flawless.
Auger-Aliassime, who played 11 matches in #Paris2024 (#Bronze in Mixed Doubles, 4th place in singles) really only play this… pic.twitter.com/N0gAbWFuqD
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) August 8, 2024
However, one reason behind Auger’s loss can be the exertion from the Paris Olympics. He played a total of 11 games at the Olympics as he took part in all 3 categories- Men’s doubles, men’s singles, and mixed doubles. Playing back-to-back games can lead to physical as well as mental exhaustion and this might be one reason behind the Canadian’s loss.
His participation in the tournament might also be forced by a factor that a lot of star players backed out of due to getting tired of playing back-to-back games at the Olympics. Another reason can be the fact that he is currently Canada’s number 1 men’s tennis singles player and hence, his absence might have impacted the reputation of the tournament.
However, now that Felix is out of the tournament, he can take this time to rebuild his strength rather than take the criticism to heart. He can rest and train to prepare for the upcoming important challenge at the US Open. He might also opt to miss the Cincinnati Open which is scheduled to happen from August 11-19, to overcome his exhaustion and focus solely on the US Open.
