Felix Auger-Aliassime believes "playing really well" was part of success against Jannik Sinner

Felix Auger-Aliassime steamrolled past Jannik Sinner to reach the quarterfinal of the 2022 Madrid Open.

The eighth-seeded Canadian lost only three games in a 6-1, 6-2 victory on Court 3, which took only 80 minutes. Sinner entered the match with a reputation as one of the most devastating ball strikers from the Next Gen group.

But his style of play yielded 22 unforced errors during the day. At the same time, Auger-Aliassime was in the zone, finding his spots on serve and from the baseline with his powerful groundstrokes.

The World No. 10 hammered 28 winners during the match and dominated on serve (losing only three points on his first delivery). For Sinner, this was just a bad day at the office, as his serve malfunctioned (he won only 48% of first-serve points).

Auger-Aliassime has now set up a last-eight meeting against Alexander Zverev, the defending champion, who earned a retirement win over Lorenzo Musetti in the round of 16.

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After the match, the 21-year-old gave a valid assessment of the match, stating that Sinner made more errors than anticipated, but he was equally watchful in his own game because he played so well.

This is a welcome return to form for Auger-Aliassime, who had a dream start to the year. He reached the Australian Open quarterfinal (lost to Daniil Medvedev) and then captured his first ATP title in Rotterdam, ending his unwanted trophyless drought of losing eight successive finals.

He would reach a second final of the season in Marseille but lost to an in-form Andrey Rublev. His form dipped at the start of Indian Wells, but he has now turned the tide, reaching three successive quarterfinals on clay.

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