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LOUIS ARMSTRONG STADIUM — It’s been a while since Felix Auger-Aliassime had a night like this on a tennis court: under the lights, in a raucous atmosphere, rolling to a stunning win.
The Canadian did something he had never done Saturday, recording his first win over a top-five player at a Grand Slam by beating No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev at the U.S. Open in front of a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium. What better place to do it than at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the site of his maiden Grand Slam semifinal in 2021?
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After losing the first set, the 25-year-old saved a set point to go down 2-0 before edging out Zverev in a second-set tiebreak. For Auger-Aliassime, winning the tiebreak opened the door he needed to play with more freedom and aggression. He got onto the front foot and stayed there, against a player whose passivity in big moments continues to compress the trajectory of his career, triumphing 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and 48 minutes.
“It’s a great boost of confidence, for sure,” Auger-Aliassime said in his news conference. “Encouraging for myself, my team, everybody that’s been supporting me.”
As the match went on, the extraordinary shots started to flow freely for Auger-Aliassime. He hit his forehand with such pace and authority, particularly in the third set, where he had eight winners. Zverev became frustrated, talking to his box and throwing his racket as the set drew to a close. Auger-Aliassime was the better player in the tight moments, and he snatched the set from the German 6-4.
In the fourth set at 3-3, Auger-Aliassime started the game with two blazing forehand winners. Then, at 0-40, he forced Zverev to dump a backhand into the net, giving the Canadian the break. Fans erupted with cheers and “let’s go Felix” chants as Auger-Aliassime fist-pumped while walking to his chair. As he won the match in four sets, he raised his arms and flashed the number one with his pointer finger, asking the crowd to cheer louder. The fans stood and roared in response.
It was Auger-Aliassime’s first win against a top-three player anywhere in three years, as well as his first over a top-five player at a major. Auger-Aliassime, ranked 27th in the world entering the U.S. Open, has two titles in 2025 at the Adelaide International in Australia and the Montpellier Open in France. But he’s struggled with consistency at the big tournaments. At the three previous majors this year, his best result was the second round at the Australian Open. At the Canadian Open in Toronto, his home tournament, Auger-Aliassime lost in the opening match.
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Despite the results, Auger-Aliassime was confident in the practice and training. He moved on from the Toronto loss to Cincinnati, where he reached the quarterfinals. Auger-Aliassime believed that the work he was putting in off court would set him up for a potential breakthrough moment, even though success in tennis is never guaranteed.
“I try to always stay ambitious, professional, and to take care of every detail throughout the years,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It can be frustrating when it’s maybe not paying off as much, but that’s the life of most players. You have to accept it and I think be humble in losses.
“You have to be patient and trust that if you have clear intentions in your practice and when the match comes that results like this will come.”
The moment was well worth the wait. He’s back into the second week of a Grand Slam, with what feels like an entire country behind him.
The result compounds a dismal year for Zverev, who has won plenty of matches without making a meaningful dent at the top of the ATP Tour. He started the year by reaching the Australian Open final, where he lost to Jannik Sinner. Since then, the world No. 3 has won a title and reached two more finals, but the gap between him and the top two, Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, has only grown.
After a first-round defeat to France’s Arthur Rinderknech at Wimbledon, Zverev said he felt “very alone,” and that he was “lacking joy in everything” he did. On the eve of the U.S. Open, the German said he was on “the right path” after seeking professional support for his mental health.
Zverev has lost three Grand Slam finals, including at the U.S. Open five years ago, and is considered by many to be the best player not to have won a major. He is the leading member of the sandwich generation in men’s tennis, a group of players born in the 1990s who ran into Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic on their way up through the sport and then found Alcaraz and Sinner waiting for them several years later.
Auger-Aliassime moves on to play Andrey Rublev, the No. 15 seed, in the fourth round.
(Photo: Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)
