The Canadian defeated Nadal 6-3, 6-4 in his second round-robin match in Turin. While the 22-year-old became the first player to achieve this feat, he could also be the only player to hold that record — unless Roger Federer makes a comeback.
Auger-Aliassime, in the second round of the 2021 Halle tournament, had defeated Federer 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Then, in this year’s Laver Cup, he got the better of Novak Djokovic, defeating him 6-3, 7-6(3).
His victory over the No. 2 ranked Nadal was also his fifth career win over a Top 5 player, with all of those coming this year — he defeated No. 3 ranked Alexander Zverev in the ATP Cup, No. 4 ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Rotterdam final and No. 1 ranked Carlos Alcaraz twice, in the Davis Cup and the Basel semifinals.
Alcaraz, a 2003-born player, missed this feat as he never had the chance to play Federer. He has victories against both Nadal and Djokovic, defeating them both on consecutive days earlier this year in Madrid.
“He didn’t give me a secret that nobody knows” - Felix Auger-Aliassime on whether his coach Toni Nadal gave him special tips to earn his first win over Rafael Nadal
At his post-match press conference, Felix Auger-Aliassime was questioned about whether he had gotten any specific coaching from Toni Nadal on how to defeat his nephew, to which he responded by saying that even though they had discussed the match, he did not get any exclusive information or “a secret that nobody knows.”
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