Félix Auger-Alaissime is doing all the right things in order to sneak into next month’s ATP Finals. The Canadian is back in the semifinals of the European Open, an event he won in 2022 when he last qualified for the year-end championship, with a straight-set win over American Eliot Spizzirri on Friday in Brussels.
Back on his beloved indoor hard-courts, Auger-Aliassime looked significantly better in his quarter-final than during his three-set second-round win on Thursday over Damir Dzumhur. Showing few ill-effects from the nearly three-hour tussle, the Canadian raced out of the gate on Friday against the former NCAA star and held off a late push to reach his eighth semifinal of 2025 with a 6-2, 7-6(6) win.
It was a classic Auger-Aliassime indoor performance. He struck 11 aces, won 82 per cent of his first-serve points, and basted 34 winners to 23 unforced errors. While Spizzirri showed himself capable of some impressive power hitting, especially in the late stages of the second set, he did himself more harm than good, committing 20 unforced errors to just 18 winners.
Early on, it was all Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian started applying pressure right from the start, creating a break point in the opening game of the match. Spizzirri managed to hold his first two service games before Auger-Aliassime took control, reeling off five games in a row to take the set.
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From 1-2 down in the first, Auger-Aliassime won eight of the next nine games, carrying the momentum into the second set where he raced out to a 3-1 lead. For the first hour, the Canadian barely faced any pressure on serve. However, when Spizzirri finally had a shot at a break, he seized it, converting his first break point of the day to level at 4-4.
Suddenly, the American was in the ascendancy, applying constant pressure to Auger-Aliassime's serve. The Canadian had to save a break/set point on his own delivery in the 10th game and two more in the 12th but he managed to hold on to force a tiebreak.
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Like earlier in the set, a 3-1 lead slipped away from the Canadian in the breaker. The tiebreak came to a dramatic end full of spectacular physical rallies. Auger-Aliassime set up his first match point at 6-5 with an incredible defensive backhand lob winner but could not convert when he narrowly missed a forehand wide. At 6-6, Spizzirri teed off on shot after shot but the Canadian showed off his defensive skills to hang in before using the American’s pace against him to draw an error.
With the second match point coming on his own serve, Auger-Aliassime finished off the win with an ace.
Not only does the win send the Canadian into the semifinals, but it also bolsters his bid to qualify for the ATP Finals. There is a big opportunity now for Auger-Aliassime to gain ground in the Race to Turin on Lorenzo Musetti, who was upset in his quarter-final in Brussels earlier on Friday.
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The gap between the pair for the final spot at the year-end championships is now under 500 points. Auger-Aliassime can gain another 65 points on the Italian if he beats either Raphael Collignon or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semis on Saturday.
Feature Photo : ATP Tour
