Canada's Auger-Aliassime loses to Berrettini in Swiss Open quarterfinals

GSTAAD, SWITZERLAND — Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime was eliminated from the Swiss Open clay-court tennis tournament with a 7-6 (9), 7-6 (2) quarterfinal loss to Italy's Matteo Berrettini on Friday.

Berrettini went up 5-0 in the second tiebreaker before converting his first match point on serve.

Auger-Aliassime missed a chance to take control of the first set when Berrettini came back from triple break point in the sixth game to hold for a 3-3 tie.

The Italian then converted set point on return in the ensuing tiebreaker when Auger-Aliassime ended a six-shot rally with an unforced error.

Auger-Aliassime's career record against Berrettini fell to 2-5.

The Canadian, who turns 24 next month, is scheduled to play in men's singles and doubles at the Paris Games starting next week and used this tournament as a tune-up. Tennis at the Olympics will be held on the clay courts at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open.

On Monday, Auger-Aliassime and Swiss partner Dominic Stricker lost 6-4, 7-6 (4) to top seeds Jamie Murray of Britain and Czechia's Adam Pavlasek in the first round of doubles competition.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 19, 2024.