FELIX AUGER ALIASSIME (CAN)

A win would have seen Félix Auger-Aliassime become the youngest Queen’s Club finalist since Boris Becker in 1985. Instead, the 18 year old was forced to settle for being the youngest player to reach the semi-finals since Lleyton Hewitt 20 years ago. Remarkable either way.

‘Remarkable’ pretty much sums up the Canadian right now. Ranked No. 21 on the ATP Tour, his route to the last four at the Fever-Tree Championships saw him dismantle the likes of Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, Australia’s Nick Kyrgios and the top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas. And, what’s really impressive is that this has become the norm.

A win over Feliciano Lopez on Saturday proved just one step too far for the Canadian, though, as he fell 7-6(3), 3-6, 4-6. But it’s safe to say, as the season’s third major at Wimbledon looms larger, Auger-Aliassime is well-placed to make a deep run at the All England Lawn Tennis Club thanks to yet another strong showing on grass.

A hotly-contested first set saw neither player blink as they held their serves impeccably, facing just four break points between them. The trend continued in the tiebreak until Auger-Aliassime finally made a crucial breakthrough, taking a point on Lopez’s serve to make it 4-2. He made the most of his advantage, claiming the set 7-6(3).

Things didn’t go to plan for the Montrealer at the start of the second set, however, as Lopez cracked the young Canadian’s serve to take an early 3-0 lead. Despite facing another break point in the next game, Auger-Aliassime did well to keep his cool and hold his serve. However, the youngster couldn’t manoeuvre into a position to break his veteran opponent, who saw out the set 6-3.

Lopez was on a roll. Despite facing three break points early in the third and decisive set, the Spaniard remained calm, held his serve and proceeded to break Auger-Aliassime just a couple of games later. He had complete control.

Having saved all eight break points he faced, Lopez used an impressive array of shots to counter Auger-Aliassime’s best efforts to get back into the match. The Spaniard claimed his victory with one final service hold to take the third set 6-4.

(Feature photo: Mike Frey/TPN)

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