It was the one that got away.
Felix Auger-Aliassime’s magical run in Miami came to a difficult end on Friday in Miami as the Canadian struggled to manage nerves in one of the biggest professional matches of his career.
The 18-year-old held a break advantage in each set against John Isner but serving yips and some unusually loose play ultimately led to his demise as he fell 7-6(3) 7-6(4) to the defending champion.
After the match the youngest semi-finalist in Miami Open history had mixed emotions as he tried to process a brilliant run that featured a disappointing ending.
“I think I did the best that I could,” he told reporters. “I probably did the best of all the players that played him this week. I just couldn't serve from my part.”
The Canadian rued a disastrous tenth game of the opening set that saw him toss in three double-faults and fail to serve out the set. He would later drop the set in the tiebreaker.
In the second set Auger-Aliassime served for the set at 5-3. He tossed in another double-fault to hand Isner two break points at 15-40, and dumped a drive volley into the net two points later to put Isner back on serve.
“It's a chance you can't miss, serving two times for the set, and just -- I don't know,” he said. “It's just terrible.”
He admitted that nerves played a role in his difficulties.
“Yeah, for sure, nerves,” he said. “It's like I caught a virus or something. I don't know. I couldn't put a second serve anymore. Even the first serve, I mean, if you put it in, you don't have to hit the second serve. Yeah, that's just very tough to swallow.”
There are still plenty of positives for the Canadian, who has surged up the rankings from outside the Top 100 inside the Top 35 in less than three months. He has also earned five Top 20 wins along the way, and joined a very select group of tennis legends with his achievement in Miami.
He plans to take a few weeks off to rest and train on clay before making his next appearance at the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters in mid-April.
Still the lingering emotion is one of regret for the 18-year-old. An opportunity missed will never sit well with a talent the likes of Auger-Aliassime, and that is likely why this loss shook him so hard.
“I don't know if it's fatigue that maybe I lost my focus sometimes,” he said. “I didn't feel like it was the focus or concentration. I just felt like, I don't know, the nerves got to me a little. Yeah, I wasn't able to do like all the other matches and just focus on what I had to do, and it really got to me too hard.”