Felix Auger-Aliassime has suffered a devastating defeat in his opening match at the 2025 French Open. Coco Gauff’s former coach Brad Gilbert later shared his ominous assessment of the Canadian’s tendency to lose matches from winning positions at the Majors.
Auger-Aliassime locked horns with Matteo Arnaldi in the first round of the clay court Major and dominated the early stages of the encounter to take a two-set lead.
The Canadian appeared to have sealed his victory by securing an early break in the third set, but he failed to hold on to his lead as Arnaldi mounted a comeback and clinched the set 6-3. The Italian went on to take control of the match and claimed a hard-fought 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
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Felix Auger-Aliassime's devastating exit marked his second consecutive loss at a Major from a 2-0 lead, following his 6-7(7), 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3 defeat to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at this year's Australian Open. Similarly, the Canadian squandered a two-set lead against Thanasi Kokkinakis at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.
Following the match, Brad Gilbert called attention to Auger-Aliassime's tendency to lose matches despite holding a two-set lead.
"Feels like FAA has lost a few from 2 sets up ⬆️," Gilbert posted on X.
Upon learning that the Canadian had blown a 2-0 lead in three of the last four Majors, Gilbert also grimly assessed that he had recorded far too many such losses at 24 years of age.
"That’s a lot at his age and 3/4 stings," he wrote.
Following his win over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Matteo Arnaldi will take on fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli in the second round of the French Open.
Matteo Arnaldi addresses 'difficult' battle against Felix Auger-Aliassime at French Open
Matteo Arnaldi was elated after defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime at the 2025 French Open, as he celebrated passionately with the crowd cheering him on. The Italian had much to be happy about since he had secured victory after overcoming a two-set deficit for the first time in his career.
Speaking to Eurosport Italia after his triumph, Arnaldi acknowledged his "difficult" encounter against Auger-Aliassime. He also expressed his belief that his second-round encounter with compatriot Flavio Cobolli would be an "intense" showdown.
"I played a difficult match. Second round with Cobolli? It will be an intense derby," Arnaldi said.
If Matteo Arnaldi triumphs over Cobolli, he will face the winner of the match between Alexander Zverev and Jesper de Jong in the third round of the claycourt Major.
