If Félix Auger-Aliassime were a hockey team, it looks like he would now be playing two games under .500 this season. The Quebecer suffered his 17th setback of the year on Friday evening at the Masters 1000 in Shanghai, losing in three rounds to Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (57).e in the ATP rankings.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked No. 14 in China, lost 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 in a fight that lasted 3 hours and 22 minutes. Félix tried to save three match points in the final set, but the fourth was the right one for Fucsovics.
Due to his seeded status, this first meeting of the “FAA” tournament was a second round, as he benefited from a bye in the first round.
Crucial month of October
But the former world sixth player has still had a very poor start to the month of October, which will be crucial for his ranking. And that famed seeding status could well be stripped from him in most of the events he will compete in early next year.
A year ago, as the leaves were changing colors in his native Quebec, Auger-Aliassime was enjoying the best streak of his young career: three titles in as many tournaments and 16 straight victories if you include his semi-final at the Masters 1000 in Paris.
His consecutive triumphs in Florence, Antwerp and Basel, two competitions in the ATP 250 series and one in the ATP 500 series mean that he has 1000 points to defend during the month, otherwise the decline in the rankings will be serious be.
A terrible sequence
The 23-year-old felt he had regained his confidence when he secured a win in singles and another in doubles at the Laver Cup two weeks ago.
But for now it was just a brief respite in his last painful months, punctuated by what he described as a troubling knee injury himself in the worst phase of his career before the start of the US Open (where he also lost in the first round).
Auger-Aliassime has not been able to record any victories since the Indian Wells Masters in March.
Since then, in 13 matches, he has committed only four: against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro in Miami, against the Spaniard Pablo Llamas Ruiz in Lyon, then against the Italian Matteo Berrettini and the Frenchman Gaël Monfils (in Cincinnati). and Laver cup).