Melbourne: Felix Auger-Aliassime themed Dominic Thiem's exit by beating the Austrian 6-3, 7-5, 6-7(5), 5-7, 6-3 in an epic five-hour battle in the first round of the Australian Open here on Monday night.
Felix could have wrapped up a three-setter win on the trot when he just required two points, but the Canadian was forced to bleed before clinching the match that stretched to 4 hours and 59 minutes.
Thiem was undone by his 66 unforced errors, even though he cracked up 57 winners, three more than Felix. This victory brought him on par after Thiem had notched up a straight-sets fourth-round triumph en route to the title at the 2020 US Open.
After Felix pocketed the first two sets, Thiem kept pumping in by winning the last five points of the third-set tiebreak. The match then entered a fifth set past midnight after Thiem served out the fourth on his second attempt.
In the deciding set, Felix zoomed past and took a 3-0 lead after saving two break points in the first game. From there, he lost just four points on serve for the rest of the match.
Having edged out Thiem in the longest match of his career, Felix will prepare for a second-round clash against qualifier Hugo Grenier, who defeated Alexandre Muller 2-6, 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7).
