A pair of Canadians returned to familiar territory in Flushing Meadows as Félix Auger-Aliassime booked his spot into the US Open semifinal while Gabriela Dabrowski is in her second final in three years alongside Kiwi Erin Routliffe.
After going over three years without even reaching the quarter-finals at a Grand Slam event, Auger-Aliassime fought his way back into the semifinals of a major on Wednesday with a gritty four-set win over eighth seed Alex de Minaur at the US Open.
The Canadian No. 1 had to pull out all the stops to find a way past the speedy Aussie. As the match went along, Auger-Aliassime's bold hitting managed to wear down the Demon’s defenses and he managed to bring his best when he needed it most late in sets, punching his ticket to his second Grand Slam semifinal, the first being at the 2021 US Open, with a 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4) win in four hours and 10 minutes.
Even with de Minaur’s wall-like defense, Auger-Aliassime managed to fire 51 winners past the speedster, although he did have 50 unforced errors as well. The first serve was key for the Canadian, as he put 64 per cent of them in play and won 82 per cent of those points.
One poor game cost Auger-Aliassime in the first set. At 3-3, the forehand abandoned the Canadian as he missed three in a row to go down love-40. A fourth forehand miss gave de Minaur the lone break of the opening frame. Auger-Aliassime had two chances to break right back in the next game and pushed to deuce when the Aussie served for it at 5-4, but de Minaur held his ground.
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On multiple occasions in the second set, Auger-Aliassime found himself having to dig deep in order to stop de Minaur from running away with it. The Canadian had to save a break point in the opening game of the set and then was broken at 2-2. But unlike the first set when he missed his break-back opportunities, Auger-Aliassime fired a forehand winner to get back to 3-3.
De Minaur had a break point to go up 6-5 but netted his return. He then led the tiebreaker 4-2, was serving at 5-4, and had a set point on his opponent’s serve at 6-5, but Auger-Aliassime kept fighting back. He saved the set point with an ace and did not trail again in the breaker. A deep return at 7-7 drew an error to give the Montrealer a set point on his own serve where he blasted a forehand winner to level the match.
Carrying the momentum into the third, Auger-Aliassime flipped the script in set three and was the player largely on the front foot throughout. A de Minaur double fault gifted him a break in the fifth game and he conjured some impressive hitting to save a couple of break points in the ensuing game, consolidating for a 4-2 lead.
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Auger-Aliassime looked well on his way to taking the set as more and more errors were creeping into the Aussie’s game. However, the Canadian got tight serving for the set at 5-4, double-faulting twice as de Minaur drew level. But the world No. 8 followed up with a nervy game of his own to give Auger-Aliassime a second chance to serve out the set and this time, he made no mistake, closing out the set with an ace.
Even though he had begun to fade in the third set, de Minaur found another gear with his back against the wall, breaking early in the fourth set as he raced out to a 4-1 lead. He led by as much as 5-2 and served for the set at 5-3. However, the Aussie got tight as he tried to close it out and was broken to love as Auger-Aliassime fought back to 5-5.
A nervy tiebreak ensued where the first five points went against the server before Auger-Aliassime got one on his own delivery to lead 4-2. Four of the first eight points in the breaker were double faults, including one from de Minaur to put the Canadian up 5-3. With the match on his racquet serving at 5-4, Auger-Aliassime put aside the nerves and played the two big points he needed, hitting a series of huge groundstrokes to clinch his spot in the semifinals.
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Auger-Aliassime will look to go a step further than he did in 2021 when he takes on an Italian, either world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner or 10th seed Lorenzo Musetti, in the semis.
Gabriela Dabrowski, the last Canadian woman left in the US Open, will contest her doubles semifinal alongside Erin Routliffe later on Wednesday.
Dabrowski, Routliffe Back in US Open Final With Straight-Sets Win Over Errani, Paolini
Dabrowski and Routliffe are contesting for the US Open title once again.
The 2023 champions defeated No. 2 seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach their first major final as a team since Wimbledon in 2024.
Dabrowski and Routliffe cruised on serve throughout the match, winning 81 per cent of their first-serve points without facing a single break point. The Cincinnati champions also finished with 31 winners compared to their opponents’ 19.
The No. 3 seeds didn’t make life easy for Errani and Paolini on serve early on. Dabrowski and Routliffe forced deuce in the Italians’ opening two service games but the No. 2 seeds held on both occasions without needing to save a break point.
At 3-3, 30-40, Dabrowski and Routliffe finally held a break opportunity and made good use of it, going on the attack early before securing the loss of serve. After a hold, the Canadian-Kiwi duo led 5-3.
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Serving for the opener at 5-4, Dabrowski and Routliffe held a pair of set points and were able to capitalize on the second try thanks to one of Errani and Paolini’s 12 unforced errors.
The middle of second set turned out just the same as the first, as the No. 3 seeds managed to break in the seventh game once more to lead 4-3. Dabrowski and Routliffe then held to be one game away from reaching their third Grand Slam final as a team.
And one game is all the Canadian-Kiwi duo needed as Dabrowski and Routliffe broke the Italians for the third time in the match, holding a total of six break points, to book their spot in Friday’s final.
The team will meet No. 1 seeds Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova for the 2025 title.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
