After his high flight, Daniel Altmaier came down to earth at the Masters in Paris. The day after his coup over three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud, the 27-year-old tennis professional missed the next surprise against Canadian world number ten Felix Auger-Aliassime. Despite leading the set, he lost 6:3, 3:6, 2:6 and has to wait for his second quarter-final in a 1000 tournament.
After 2:06 hours, Auger-Aliassime converted his first match point with an ace, leaving Altmaier frustrated after a great tournament in the La Defense hall. In the round of the best eight, the Canadian now has a duel with the sensational winner of the Masters in Shanghai, Valentin Vacherot from Monaco.
Altmaier appeared very confident at the beginning and took the serve straight away from the Canadian. The German didn’t allow himself to be disturbed by a few break chances from his prominent opponent and took the first set.
Auger-Aliassime initially seemed a little inhibited in the fight for his starting place at the ATP Finals of the eight best of the season in Turin (from November 9th). But he caught himself, stabilized his serve and finally lived up to his role as favorite. Altmaier, who made too many double faults, was just running behind from the middle of the second round. He also had treatment on his right thigh, which seemed to be causing problems.
On Wednesday, Altmaier celebrated his fifth career win over a top ten player against Ruud. After a strong season, the Kempen native had already climbed to number 50 in the world rankings. He could beat his record (rank 47) after the week in Paris.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev will also play for a place in the quarter-finals on Thursday. After his almost traditionally difficult opening win in three sets against the Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli, a duel with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain) awaits the Hamburg native this evening.