Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime couldn’t hide his happiness after reaching his first home quarterfinal in Montreal. The National Bank Open is one year held in Montreal and the other in Toronto. Three years ago, Auger-Aliassime made his first appearance in his home town Montreal.
Back then, Auger-Aliassime reached the last-16 before losing to Karen Khachanov. This year, Auger-Aliassime made his second Montreal appearance and went a step further. On Thursday, Auger-Aliassime saw off Cameron Norrie 6-3 6-4 to reach the Motnreal quarterfinal.
After the match, Auger-Aliassime was all thrilled as he noted that the people from the Quebec province appreciate good results from one of their own.
Auger-Aliassime: Montreal people are really proud people
“I have gone one step further than I did here three years ago.
Montreal people are really proud people. We are a small community in the world. We support each other in what we do, especially in professional sport,” Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. “When you see an athlete come from the province of Quebec and do big things, people are very proud.
It makes me proud to be in that position”. Auger-Aliassime claimed the first break of the match in the eighth game for a 5-3 lead, before serving out for the first set in the following game. After winning the first set, Auger-Aliassime had a chance to start the second set with a break but he missed out on a break point in the first game.
Auger-Aliassime also missed out on a break point in the seventh game but finally broke Norrie again in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead. In the following game, Auger-Aliassime served out for the match. “[The crowd] kept on pushing me to look forward and to win one more point and one more point.
I played excellently with what I could control today,” Auger-Aliassime said. “My serve was almost perfect, so I am really happy with my level”.
