BARCELONA, Spain — Felix Auger-Aliassime ruined the homecoming of Carlos Alcaraz after fighting back to beat the world´s newest top-ranked player 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2 to level Canada with Spain at 1-1 in the Davis Cup.
Spaniards flocked to Valencia to see 19-year-old Alcaraz in his first match since he won the US Open last weekend.
Instead, they witnessed their new idol succumb to a superb Auger-Aliassime, who endured the partisan crowd and tilted the match his way after Alcaraz dug deep to claim the first-set tiebreaker.
As the pavilion roared for Alcaraz, Auger-Aliassime coolly responded by surgically placing shot after shot exactly where he wanted. He dominated on his serve with 16 aces and eventually broke Alcaraz late in the second set and twice in the third.
“He is the world No. 1 and big credit to him for that, but I think I was a little bit better in the third set,” the 13th-ranked Auger-Aliassime said according to AP. “I wasn´t going to let my team down with my fighting spirit.”
Roberto Bautista gave Spain the first point after he fought back for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 win against Vasek Pospisil, who needed medical treatment to his upper left thigh. The group tie will be decided in doubles.
Bautista helped Spain beat Serbia 3-0 on Wednesday while Alcaraz was resting after jetting home from New York where he won his first Grand Slam on Sunday after a grueling run that included three consecutive five-set victories.
Before the tie, Alcaraz was busy signing autographs and posing for photos after practice. He received the biggest applause when the Spain team was presented and he was introduced as the “new world No. 1.”
After Spanish fans had to stay up practically all night to watch his matches at the US Open due to the time difference, this was the first chance many of his supporters had to watch him play at home since May when he won the Madrid Open.
Alcaraz beat Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev in the capital in what many saw as Nadal passing the torch to his Spanish successor.
Red and yellow flags were draped over railings at the pavilion, including one with the name of Alcaraz´s home region, Murcia, painted in big black letters. Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast, is about 2 1/2 hours north of Alcaraz´s hometown of El Palmar, population 24,000.
Another Spanish flag bore the message in Spanish, “Carlitos, will you give me your shirt?”
Alcaraz had only one previous meeting with Auger-Aliassime, at the 2021 US Open quarterfinals when the Spaniard had to retire due to injury.
While Alcaraz arrived from a tiring two weeks in the US, Auger-Aliassime played singles and doubles on Tuesday to help Canada beat South Korea in their Davis Cup opener.
Unable to touch Auger-Aliassime’s serve, Alcaraz summoned more cheers from the stands, which included his parents. He pumped his fist toward captain Sergi Bruguera and personal coach Juan Carlos Ferrero after hard-won points. He talked to himself trying to find answers.
That proved enough for Alcaraz to squeak out the first-set tiebreaker after Auger-Aliassime’s untimely errors.
But Auger-Aliassime never lost the initiative. Canada captain Frank Dancevic jumped out of his court-side seat to cheer when Auger-Aliassime finally broke Alcaraz late in the second set. The Canadian poured it on.
Alcaraz was finally able to get four break chances while down 1-2 in the third but Auger-Aliassime saved them all and fired consecutive aces to hold serve.
And when Alcaraz hit long to cede a second service game, a woman’s scream was heard above the groans.
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