Felix Auger-Aliassime reacts to blowing two-set lead to qualifier Aslan Karatsev

• Tennis News
• Tennis Interviews

No. 20 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime admitted he could have done better on the court after taking a two-set lead against qualifier Aslan Karatsev at the Australian Open. Auger-Aliassime, ranked at No. 19 in the world, blew a great chance to make the Australian Open quarterfinal as Karatsev recovered from two sets down to beat the Canadian 3-6 1-6 6-3 6-3 6-4.

Auger-Aliassime, who finished runner-up at the Murray River Open, lost his serve early on in the fifth set and never recovered from it. "Could I have played better? Clearly I could have done better, especially after leading two sets to love.

I have to see the match again, but there was maybe opportunities to stay in there, to at least get to tiebreak maybe or give myself a chance but to be honest a lot of credit is to him, he played well, he raised his level after the second set and mentally he started serving really well, doing everything really good," Auger-Aliassime said after the match, as revealed on Tennis Majors.

Auger-Aliassime couldn't stop Karatsev

Karatsev, ranked at No. 14 in the world, has won three qualifying and four main draw matches so far at the Australian Open. This week, Karatsev was praised by fellow compatriot Andrey Rublev.

"In Russia he was always one of the best ones," Rublev said of Karatsev. "And I remember he was talented and having nice touch. But then somehow things were not working, and then in the end of last year he won a couple of Challengers in a row beating really great guys, and in St.

Petersburg he beat Sandgren, I was watching the match, and then he had a really tough match against Karen, and already since that time I knew that if he was going to keep going, for sure he will do better results and better results."