Three of the four men’s singles quarterfinals at the U.S. Open involve a Grand Slam champion. The only exception is Alex de Minaur vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime. It will be a huge opportunity for both players when they go head-to-head for the sixth time in their careers on Wednesday.
Auger-Aliassime has won three of their five previous encounters (two of three on the main tour) and he is 8-4 in total sets against De Minaur. The current world No. 27 prevailed 6-3, 6-2 at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters and 6-3, 6-4 in the 2022 Davis Cup Finals. De Minaur got the best of their most recent meeting 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4 last spring on the red clay of Rome. He has never beaten FAA on any surface other than clay.
A fast hard court should once again present Auger-Aliassime with a great chance in this matchup. The 25-year-old is already a U.S. Open semifinalist (2021) and he is also a quarterfinalist at the two other non-clay Grand Slams (2021 Wimbledon and 2022 Australian Open). Auger-Aliassime is back in the last eight at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center following wins over Billy Harris, Roman Safiullin, Alexander Zverev, and Andrey Rublev.
Speaking of Rublev, De Minaur is halfway to the Russian’s 0-10 all time record in major quarterfinals. The 26-year-old is 0-5 in such situations, including 0-2 at the USO. De Minaur has given himself another shot thanks to defeats of Christopher O’Connell, Shintaro Mochizuki, Daniel Altmaier, and Leandro Riedi. It has been a shockingly routine path with just one opponent in the top 80 and none in the top 50.
A quarterfinal draw against Auger-Aliassime certainly isn’t a bad one, but the 25th seed still represents a sizable step up in competition for Demon. And as their H2H indicates, Auger-Aliassime dictates the outcome of this match. He hits the ball much bigger than De Minaur and plays more aggressively.
Although De Minaur has a habit of making opponents beat themselves, this is quite simply a match that Auger-Aliassime will win if he plays well. Right now the Canadian seed is playing great.
Pick: Auger-Aliassime in 4
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.