Next up for 14-year-old prospect Félix Auger-Aliassime - the Granby Challenger quarter-finals
GRANBY – As of Friday, it's going to be harder for Quebec tennis prospect Félix Auger-Aliassime to keep a low profile.
The 14-year-old has already created a buzz in the Quebec media and on social media after qualifying and winning his first-round match at the Banque Nationale Challenger. But after defeating Darian King of Barbados, a 23-year-old ranked No. 205, 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday evening, Auger-Aliassime now will play the top seed remaining, No. 4 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan in the quarter-finals. And as of Friday night, the television coverage kicks in on French-language TVA Sports. (If you can't watch it there, the livestream is here).
The biggest crowd of the week was on hand in Granby, and Auger-Aliassime kept his cool far better than his older opponent as the rain began to disrupt play at the end of the first set. Auger-Aliassime, who led 5-3, was broken when he tried to serve it out. But in the end, he pulled out the first set 7-5.
He played just one point on his serve in the second set before the rain really came down, stopping play for nearly an hour.
As it stopped, and a beautiful double rainbow came out, Auger-Aliassime stood on the balcony of the clubhouse and surveyed the proceedings.
The victory pose was pretty good.
Here's what Auger-Aliassime had to say after his victory Thursday.
Here's a stream of the match in its entirety.
The point of the match (and to which Auger-Aliassime refers in his answers to some of the media questions), was a crazy-long rally during which Auger-Aliassime, down a break and fighting to get even, wasted two break points at 2-3, love-40 on King's serve before finally capitalizing with a drop shot.
This was his reaction, right in the direction of father Sam.
The stream does a serious injustice to how hard these two guys were cranking the ball, and how fast they were moving. You had to see it live.
The happiest person in the entire place might have been fellow national training centre member Charlotte Robillard-Millette, 16, the No. 8 junior in the world on the girls' side and the author of an impressive victory of her own earlier in the day against No. 8 seed Amandine Hesse of France.
Mom was pretty happy too, though.
At the top pro level, the victor might have to hit three tennis balls into the crowd. At this level, it's a whole production.
Auger-Aliassime hit the balls, and the three fans who caught them got to come on court and serve at some targets for the right to win tickets to the Rogers Cup next month. If they didn't make it, Auger-Aliassime tried on their behalf.
Even better – Auger-Aliassime offered the contestants his game racquet to try their luck.
What's the after-match dinner for a 14-year-old at a Challenger? Packaged sandwiches and ... chocolate milk.
Nishikoka, just 19, is ranked No. 145 and presents a different challenge. Listed at a diminutive 5-foot-7, he plays a far different game than King and is a lefthander. Nishikoka probably feels pretty young in the pro ranks, generally speaking. So this is going to be a whole new experience for him as well.
The future of Canadian tennis will have a nice showcase. Auger-Aliassime's match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., weather permitting. He'll be followed by his pal Robillard-Millette, who plays veteran Frenchwoman Stéphanie Foretz. Foretz, the No. 3 seed, is 34 – more than twice Robillard-Millette's age.