Roger Federer has a shock exit in Halle, 20-year-old Felix is over the moon
Roger Federer failed to advance to the quarterfinals of the Halle Open on Wednesday as 20-year-old Felix Auger-Aliassim rallied to stun the former champion. In the second round, the Swiss was beaten 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Federer, who has lifted the trophy in Halle a record 10 times, is 19 years younger than Auger-Aliassime. Incidentally, the duo also shares the same birthday on August 8.
Federer was unable to deal with his young opponent’s change of tactics in the second set.
Auger-Aliassime targeted the backhand with his strong serves and the Canadian player converted three break opportunities to win in 1 hour, 45 minutes.
“In the first set, I didn’t think I could have played much better outside of just missing one forehand in my service game and then he hit two amazing passing shots and I was just like ‘Whoa,’” Auger-Aliassime recalled to ATP tour after the match.
“I understand how good he is and how good he was when he was No. 1 in the world, so it was tough,” he added.
Auger-Aliassime next faces German Jan-Lennard Struff, who shocked top-seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday, or American qualifier Marcos Giron
Also Wednesday, Andrey Rublev defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-4, 6-4 and veteran home favorite Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Corentin Moutet of France 6-4, 7-6 (4).
