Felix Auger-Aliassime ‘never doubted’ his abilities as he beats Matteo Berrettini in Cincinnati to end long wait for win

Felix Auger-Aliassime says he “never doubted” his abilities as he beat Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-2 6-3 in Cincinnati to end a near-three month wait for a win on the ATP Tour.

Auger-Aliassime’s last match victory came in Lyon back in May, since when the Canadian has gone on a run of four straight defeats, including first-round losses at both the French Open and Wimbledon.

The 23-year-old has struggled with a knee injury this year, but seemed to take a positive step forward in coming through his encounter with Berrettini.

“I never doubted my abilities or the player I am,” Auger-Aliassime said afterwards. “I think I have proven to myself and others that I’m among the best players in the world in the past.

“This year has been challenging due to different reasons. Of course, the knee injury that lasted very long kept me on the sideline and also just not playing with the intensity and the level that I can play and that I should play.”

Discussing how he kept believing in his approach, Auger-Aliassime added: “It’s a gut feeling, sometimes.

“I have had good periods and I thought, well, I want to go a bit higher. So you change… I added Toni Nadal to the team and got his experience over the last few years. Changing fitness coach, physio.

“It’s kind of like you see what’s happening, and you talk with the people close to you, people that you trust. And then also, at the end I try to be responsible for my career. I mean, I’m the one playing, I’m the one on the court. I feel like when I make choices, I think about them, and I live by, you know, I can really happily live by the choices that I make.

“I feel good about my game. Like, on the practice court or now, physically, I feel pretty good. I’m not too far from the best version of myself.

“But at the same time, we’ll see. I need kind of more matches to say, OK, I’m really playing great, great tennis again. That’s why it’s important for me… Today was great, but it’s important to keep going with that same desire and same determination.”

Meanwhile Venus Williams beat a top-20 player for the first time in four years as she saw off Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 7-5.

Williams suffered a nasty-looking fall during her first-round defeat at Wimbledon to Elina Svitolina that threatened to derail her season, but the veteran American, now 43, bounced back in quick time.

“I did my best to be here as soon as possible in the best form possible I could bring in that amount of time,” Williams said.

“Right after [the fall], I went straight back to rehab. I felt like Amy Winehouse,” she joked. “I don’t want to go.”

Williams added that her sister Serena had texted her with words of encouragement afterwards.

“She believes in me and she knows what I have inside of me,” she said.

Elsewhere in Cincinnati there were wins for Jordan Thompson, Nicolas Jarry and Dusan Lajovic on the men’s side, while Sloane Stephens and Jasmine Paolini emerged victorious in the women’s draw.

Karolina Muchova, Borna Coric and Stan Wawrinka saw their matches curtailed due to rain.

In Stanford, Britain’s Jodie Burrage recorded a fine win by defeating fifth seed Diana Shnaider in straight sets to reach the last 16, but Heather Watson lost.