Tennis News: Felix Auger Aliassime won his Dubai Tennis Championships debut in the 2023 season with great difficulty.
Still, the Canadian tennis player found a way to overcome the skillful play of American tennis player Maxime Cressy and won 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
The fourth seed survived Cressy’s impressive serves and volleys and found great returns in some of the most pressing moments of a match that lasted three hours.
“He doesn’t have the style of play like most other players. That is why it is difficult to manage. You don’t often face opponents like him. He’s quite unique and that’s why he beat me the last time we met,” said Auger Aliassime, who lost to the American at Wimbledon last season.
“I think I was a bit unprepared and couldn’t be as calm as I was this time. I show myself sharp when I need it. It was a bit of a shame to go through three sets but finally breaking it for the first time since we fought is a positive thing.
The 22-year-old arrives in Dubai after advancing to the semi-finals in Doha last week before losing to eventual champion Daniil Medvedev. He also lost to the former tennis world number 1 in the quarter-finals in Rotterdam in early February.
In the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, Auger Aliassime will challenge Italian tennis player Lorenzo Sonego.
In other action, the third seed, Medvedev maintained his winning streak to ten wins after crushing Italian tennis player Matteo Arnaldi 6-4, 6-2.
The 2021 US Open champion was on fire for the month of February after winning back-to-back titles in Rotterdam and Doha. Full of confidence, he immediately put on the gas against Arnaldi, including drawing 20 winners in a match that lasted 1:31.
World number 7 Medvedev, who is competing in Dubai for the first time since losing in the first round of the 2019 season, will next meet Kazakh Alexander Bublik who advanced to the second round after his Bulgarian opponent Alexander Lazarov withdrew as he led 6-1. 1-0.
Meanwhile, Dutch tennis player, Botic van de Zandschulp successfully overthrew sixth seed, Karen Khachanov 7-5, 6-2 and booked a second round match against Swedish tennis player, Mikael Ymer .
Article Tags: Tennis, dubai tennis championships, Felix Auger Aliassime, Daniil Medvedev, Maxime Cressy
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