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PARIS – There is a price to be paid for playing 10 tennis matches over six days on the red clay of Roland Garros, which Canadian tennis star Felix Auger-Aliassime will readily admit.
But the reward for the pain and exhaustion was tantalizing enough for the world’s 19th-ranked singles player to persevere.
The 23-year-old from Montreal collected the first of two potential prizes early Friday evening, when he teamed with mixed doubles partner Gaby Dabrowski to win the bronze-medal match. The pair defeated Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands, 6-3, 7-6 — in a match that ended up far closer than it needed to be.
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The Dutch pair managed to make it interesting, despite falling into an 0-3 hole in the second set, after battling back to 4-4 before the Canadians rallied back for the straight sets win.
Any exhaustion from Auger-Aliassime was replaced with joy, a wide smile and hands raised in the air as he finally won an Olympic medal after his exhausting string of matches at these Games.
“It’s great when you get rewarded,” Auger-Aliassime said afterwards. “You don’t often get rewarded in this tough sport — and the Olympics are every four years so to catch a medal is amazing.
“We did everything we could during the week to (stay fit and strong.) Whenever in life you get rewarded for staying resilient, it pushes you hard to continue that.”
The victory resulted in Canada’s 10th medal of the Games, and only the country’s second ever in tennis, pairing with the gold Daniel Nestor and Sebastien Lareau captured at the Sydney 2020 Games.
And it was a true team effort. Third-time Olympian Dabrowski bringing her doubles savvy and experience into the match, Auger-Aliassime bringing his power.
“A kid like me growing up with immigrant parents, it’s something I found inspiring as a kid,” Dabrowski said of the medal score. “It means so much more than something you accomplish in your in your individual career. The Olympics mean so much because it’s so much bigger than yourself.
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“And it’s a beautiful experience to share it on a tennis court.”
The medal clearly resonated emotionally with Dabrowski, whose parents emigrated from Poland and she was raised to embrace the power and significance of the Olympics.
“The Olympics are everything to an Eastern European person,” Dabrowski said. “I’m so happy to play and win a medal in something I’ve dream of since I was a kid.”
As deflated as he was after getting thumped by world No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz in the men’s singles semi-final earlier Friday, Auger-Aliassime pressed forward for the medal match that began less than two hours after the gutting singles defeat.
And it may get even better as Auger-Aliassime is alive for podium effort in the men’s singles competition, as his bronze-medal match scheduled for Saturday. Canada wasn’t expected to win a medal here let alone two, so it was a breakthrough moment. He is scheduled to take on the loser of the other semi-final between Serbian great Novak Djokovic and Lorenzo Musetti.
To his credit, Auger-Aliassime deleted the memories from his competitive hard drive and rallied to team with Dabrowski in their manhandling of the Dutch duo.
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As thrilled as he was with earning a medal, there was a humbling side to Auger-Aliassime’s day in that lopsided semi-final loss, a tough blow mentally given his ongoing desire to be a factor among the game’s best.
A credit to Auger-Aliassime’s fitness and competitiveness given the gruelling regimen of playing in two events in the already condensed Olympic schedule. To that end, Auger-Aliassime knew he had to quickly shift from the strategy in play facing a young, elite fireballer in singles to working with the doubles savvy Dabrowski to tear apart the Dutch so easily.
The schedule helped in that regard as the singles matches were played earlier in the day followed by the doubles, which obviously require less court movement. And despite the grind – and obvious exhaustion – Auger-Aliassime said he was holding up fine.
“I was proud of the effort I gave to help us win,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I’ll try hard again (Saturday) as we did today in the mixed, try to bounce back and play a little better and get another medal for myself and for my team.”
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