Félix Auger-Aliassime will return to the ABN AMRO Open semifinals for the first time since 2022, the same edition he won his first of nine ATP titles.
The Canadian No. 1 defeated home favourite Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(2), 6-2 in the quarter-finals on Friday for his 15th win in Rotterdam. Auger-Aliassime also extended his win streak to seven matches following his triumph in Montpellier.
The Canuck’s first delivery powered him to the straight-sets victory, winning 92 per cent of his first-serve points. On return, Auger-Aliassime finally got a hold of Griekspoor’s serve in the second set, converting on two of five break points en route to sealing the contest in under two hours.
Auger-Aliassime had to work his way out of some tricky service games to start the match. The world No. 6 spent over 20 minutes on serve through the first two games on his delivery, saving a break point over that span as the match remained level.
Griekspoor kept stress-free on serve. At 1-2, love-15, the Dutch won 12-straight service points, bringing the set to 4-4. However, when serving to extend the opener, the 29-year-old faced his first bit of pressure at 4-5, 30-40, fending off break point and eventually holding after some double fault trouble.
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In the tiebreaker, a double mini-break put Auger-Aliassime in the driver’s seat, owning four set points at 6-2. The Montrealer capped off the opener with his sixth ace as he stayed perfect on his delivery in the tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime opened the second set with the match’s first break, coupling it with a comfortable hold to take a 2-0 lead.
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The Canadian nearly added to his advantage, holding three break points across the third and fifth game, but he would later capitalize at 2-4, 15-40, allowing the 25-year-old to serve for the match. At 5-2, 40-15, Auger-Aliassime put away Griekspoor’s return, clinching his place into the final four in Rotterdam where he will meet either Alexander Bublik or Jaume Munar on Saturday.
Shapovalov into Dallas Semis
Denis Shapovalov is one step closer to defending his championship in Dallas after upsetting the No. 3 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-final on Friday night.
The defending champion advances to take on American Ben Shelton in the semifinal on Saturday. Shelton holds a 3-0 advantage in head-to-head matchups, with the most recent coming in Shanghai in 2024.
Top seed Taylor Fritz will take on Marin Cilic, who eliminated Shapovalov at the Australian Open, in the other semifinal.
After firing 22 aces against Aleksandar Kovacevic on Thursday, Shapovalov came out of the gates on fire again and conceded just one point in each of his first three service games.
Davidovich Fokina was equally impressive on serve in the first, as the set remained on serve until the Spaniard earned the first break of the match to go up 6-5 with a chance to serve out the set. The Canadian would earn a break point of his own but could not capitalize as the No. 3 seed would go on to win the first set 7-5.
Shapovalov committed 16 unforced errors in the first set to just seven for Davidovich Fokina.
The seventh-seeded Shapovalov would have another chance to break on Davidovich Fokina’s first service game of the second, but his 14th-ranked opponent would once again fight off break point and earn the hold, punctuated with a spectacular cross-court backhand winner.
The two would again stay on serve for most of a back-and-forth second set that saw Shapovalov drill another seven aces, en route to a 5-4 lead. Davidovich Fokina would fight hard and stave off three set points in the next game before the Canadian finally broke through on set point #4, earning his first break of the match to win the set 6-4.
Shapovalov began to find his form early in the third set, drilling 10 winners over the first four games, including another break of Davidovich Fokina to seize the momentum and take a 3-1 lead. The 26-year-old would not relent for the rest of the match and finished off the comeback win with another powerful serve on match point.
Overall, Shapovalov hit 17 aces and drilled 40 winners to just 18 for Davidovich Fokina.
It is Shapovalov’s first win against a top-20 player since defeating Ugo Humbert in Halle last June.
Last year, Shapovalov defeated three top-10 players, Taylor Fritz (4), Tommy Paul (9), and Casper Ruud (5) en route to the title in Dallas.
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- Jonathan Chan
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
