Photo: Stockholm Open/twitter
Less than 24 hours after his Stockholm Open debut, Félix Auger-Aliassime was back on Centre Court in the Swedish capital for his quarter-final match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands. Today’s contest was the Canadian’s 10th quarter-final appearance of the season. A win against the Dutchman would send Auger-Aliassime to his fifth semi-final of the year.
Similar to yesterday’s match, Auger-Aliassime dominated in the service department en route to claiming the first set. He fired off eight aces in the opener and won 76 per cent of first-serve points. His accuracy was so spot on that van de Zandschulp challenged three of Auger-Aliassime’s serves – all three challenges were unsuccessful.
In September, the Dutchman became the third qualifier in the Open Era to advance to the US Open quarter-finals, defeating the likes of Casper Ruud and Diego Schwartzman. He showcased his elite-level capabilities in the ninth game of today’s contest, fending off four Auger-Aliassime set points. However, the Canadian would seal the first set on his serve in the tenth game.
The second set was again controlled by the Canadian. He earned three early looks at break, but the tenacious van de Zandschulp turned them away. Auger-Aliassime eventually broke the World No. 61 in the seventh game with a fantastic return of serve at 30:40 to go up a set and a break. He would break van de Zandschulp again in the ninth game to clinch the match by a score of 6-4, 6-3.
With his solid performance in Stockholm, Auger-Aliassime will break into the Top 10 for the first time in his career on Monday.
