Félix Auger-Aliassime boosted his chances of making the Nitto ATP Finals on Wednesday.
The world No. 13 defeated Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 in the Rolex Shanghai Masters fourth round and moved 530 points back of the Italian for the final spot in the Race to Turin.
It was another strong service performance by Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian won 76 per cent of his first-serve points and saved all three break points he faced. The 25-year-old broke Musetti three times and wrapped up the match in under 90 minutes to reach his second-straight ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.
From the fifth game of the opening set, both players began to pile the pressure on their opponent’s serve. Auger-Aliassime held double break point at 2-2, 15-40, and converted on the second attempt to go up a break.
Musetti responded by holding triple break point in the ensuing game, but the Canadian No. 1 served well while also firing three of his 23 winners in the match to hold and lead 4-2.
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Serving for the set at 5-4, 30-love, two-straight Musetti unforced errors handed Auger-Aliassime the opener.
The Montrealer didn’t give the Italian much on his delivery to start the second set, winning eight of his first ten service points. At 2-2, 40-love, Auger-Aliassime won five-straight points and once again broke in the fifth game. The former world No. 6 held to go up 4-2.
In the seventh game, another break from the Canadian set himself up to serve for the match. At 5-2, 30-all, Auger-Aliassime recorded his fifth and sixth aces of the evening to book his place into the last eight.
The Canuck improved to 11-2 since the start of August, with his only two losses coming to former world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
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Auger-Aliassime will meet Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the quarter-final on Friday and, with a win, he can move within 330 points of Musetti for the eighth spot in the ATP Finals.
Feature Photo : Martin Sidorjak
