Felix Auger Aliassime hands Federer earliest defeat in Halle
Roger Federer’s campaign in Halle came to an end in the second round, by the hands of Canadian Auger Aliassime. The 20 year old wasn’t even born when Federer turned pro in 1998, scored a come from behind win against the Swiss.
Despite a comfortable 6-4 in the first set, the Swiss was defeated by Aliassime, who before challenge, had declared ‘although I know that Roger will give me some pitfalls, thanks to his infinite talent, I will be able to avoid any trap’ when the duo had trained together in Dubai.
Federer, who has won the Halle ten times, only won the first set. Federer was often frustrated by the 20-year-old’s explosive serve. Thirteen aces flew from Felix’s racket. In the first match, Federer defeated Ilia Ivashka of Belarus.
The Basel native, who will not be able to defend the title he won on the grass in Halle in 2019, showed that he is not in the best of form after having surgery on his right knee in 2020 and that the mission to win at Wimbledon (his ninth title), as it is his dream and that of many, it seems quite distant as of now.
Meanwhile, Russia’s Andrei Rublev, Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Germany’s Philip Kolschreiber advanced to the quarterfinals. Rublev defeated Jordan Thompson of Australia in straight sets. The score was 6-4 6-4. But in the first dawn, Medvedev was eliminated in the first round.
