Felix Auger-Aliassime's first-round exit at the 2024 Mexican Open has left tennis fans in dismay.
Auger-Aliassime returned to the ATP 500 event in Acapulco after a two-year gap. The Canadian squared off against qualifier Flavio Cobolli in the opener on Tuesday, February 27. Despite winning the first set, the 23-year-old succumbed to a 6-2, 3-6, 2-6 defeat in under two hours.
Cobolli will face either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Roman Safiullin in the second round on Wednesday.
Felix Auger-Aliassime committed 15 unforced errors and nine double faults on the day. The Canadian, who arrived in Acapulco hoping to reverse his poor run of form, has seemingly gone from bad to worse.
Fans on social media expressed their disappointment at Auger-Aliassime's latest setback. One fan stated that the Canadian has become a "complete shocker" given that they had hoped for him to become a part of the next Big 4 in tennis.
"FAA is a complete shocker for me. When I first saw him playing, I thought he, Zverev, Tsitsipas and Medvedev will be the next big 4 in tennis. But come on! You can't be serious smh," the fan wrote on Reddit.
Another fan said it was a "shame" to see the youngster continuing his downward spiral, and expressed hope of him getting back on track.
"It's such a shame to see Felix continue to spiral - in my experience he's literally the nicest tennis player to his fans. I've ended up with about five photos with the guy just from standing in his proximity, he'll always make the effort. I really hope he gets it together and gets back on track, because he has/had so much potential," they wrote.
Here are a few more reactions from fans on Reddit:
A look into Felix Auger-Aliassime's 2024 season so far
Felix Auger-Aliassime commenced his 2024 season at the ASB Classic. The fourth-seeded Canadian suffered a first-round defeat to Daniel Altmaier, losing 7-6(9), 7-5.
At the Australian Open, Auger-Aliassime earned a hard-fought win in five sets over Dominic Thiem in the opener. He then defeated Hugo Grenier before losing to Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 in the third round.
Auger-Aliassime then had a decent run at the Open Sud de France, reaching the semifinals. However, he was denied a place in the final after falling 6-4, 4-6, 4-6 to Alexander Bublik.
The Canadian then traveled to Marseille to take part in the Open 13, where he suffered a second-round loss to Zhang Zhizhen. He had defeated Quentin Halys 6-2, 7-5 in the opener.
At the recently concluded ABN AMRO Open, Felix Auger-Aliassime held his nerve to survive two intense tie breaks and defeat Maxime Cressy 7-6(3), 7-6(8) in the first round. However, he lost 6-3, 6-7(6), 5-7 to second seed Andrey Rublev in the following match.