Felix Auger-Aliassime’s form on clay is picking up at the right time as the Canadian No. 2 is through to the Bitpanda Hamburg Open semifinal, defeating Alexandre Muller 7-6(4), 6-7(6), 6-3 on Thursday.
This is the first time Auger-Aliassime has reached at least the semifinal of an ATP clay court tournament since finishing as runner-up at the Madrid Open in 2024.
Auger-Aliassime had 61 unforced errors but the world No. 30 was aggressive on serve and fired 40 winners in the match. After failing to capitalize on four match points in the second set, the Canadian took advantage of an early break in the third and won 77 per cent of his first serve points to take the match in nearly three hours.
The Montreal-native had a great chance at an early break in the third game. At love-30, Muller hit his forehand into the net to hand Auger-Aliassime three break points. However, the French No. 4 saved all three as he eventually managed to hold.
In the ensuing game, a trio of unforced errors by Auger-Aliassime made it 30-40 and a double fault by the Canadian gave the Frenchman a 3-1 lead.
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Auger-Aliassime responded in the best possible way, winning the next four points to break back. The 24-year-old then held to level the match.
Unforced errors continued to haunt the former world No. 6 in his next service game, hitting three of his 24 in the first set to make it 30-40. Auger-Aliassime saved break point with a powerful backhand winner down the line before winning the following two points for the vital hold, keeping the match level at 4-4.
The opening set eventually needed a tiebreak where, at 6-3, Auger-Aliassime had a pair of chances to serve out the set. After a double fault, the Montreal-native put away an overhead during the next point to go up a set.
Auger-Aliassime nearly found himself on the wrong end of an early break in the second. At 15-40, the Canadian recorded one of his four aces in the match before winning the ensuing three points to hold.
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With Auger-Aliassime up 3-2, the sixth game went to deuce. The Canadian No. 2 held a break point after a brilliant crosscourt passing shot on the run and he converted by firing a forehand return winner to lead the second set by a pair.
At 5-3, Auger-Aliassime had the chance to finish off the match at 40-30 but hit his forehand wide. On the ensuing point, the world No. 30 recorded one of his 26 unreturned serves to hold another match point but again hit his forehand wide.
Muller then just needed one break point to convert and keep the match going. The Frenchman managed the vital hold in the game to level the set at 5-5.
After two more holds, the fans in Hamburg got treated to another tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime got off to an early 3-0 lead, but two unforced errors and a strong Muller forehand levelled the tiebreaker.
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The Canadian later went up 5-4 where a Muller double fault gave Auger-Aliassime the chance to close out the match. However, three-straight unforced errors by the Canadian put the world No. 40 in a spot to level the match. After a lengthy rally, an outstretched Auger-Aliassime couldn’t keep the point alive as the match needed a decisive set.
Frustrations began to boil over for the 24-year-old in between sets, as Auger-Aliassime was unhappy with how the umpire was handling the serve clock.
That didn’t seem to faze the Montreal-native as he saved a break point in the second game and recorded a break of his own, getting off to a 3-1 lead.
At 5-3, over an hour after Auger-Aliassime last held match points, the Canadian had three more chances to finish off the match. Just as it looked like Muller would extend the set after saving two, it was lucky number seven for Auger-Aliassime who put the match away on his seventh match point of the evening.
The Canadian No. 2 will face world No. 17 Andrey Rublev in the semifinal tomorrow, a rematch of the 2024 Madrid Open final where Rublev hoisted the trophy.
Photo Credit: Martin Sidorjak
