Félix Auger-Aliassime continued his perfect start to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, earning another straight-sets victory in his quest to return to the final.
The Canadian No. 1 defeated eighth-seed Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6(2) in the quarter-finals on Thursday, putting on another strong service display. Auger-Aliassime had 16 aces in the match and won 83 per cent of his first-serve points. The top seed recorded 23 unforced errors but on the other end, Lehecka had some trouble keeping his tally down as the Czech finished with 41.
Auger-Aliassime took a few games to warm up to Lehecka’s serve, managing just one point on the Czech’s delivery through his first two service games.
However, Auger-Aliassime piled the pressure in the later end of the set, holding a first break point at 3-3, 30-40. Lehecka saved with one of his seven aces in the match, but some unforced errors from the world No. 24 eventually handed the Canadian the break.
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The ninth game was nearly a carbon copy of the seventh. At 3-5, Auger-Aliassime secured a second-consecutive break on his second opportunity, after holding a break point at 30-40, to seal the opening set.
The Montrealer’s serve remained virtually untouchable despite some early trouble to begin the second. With Auger-Aliassime serving in the first game at 15-40, the Canuck won 17 of his next 20 service points, saving two break points and firing six aces over that span.
Lehecka somehow prevented Auger-Aliassime from getting the chance to serve for the match, fending off five break points in the eighth game en route to levelling the set at 4-4.
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Both players had to work through some tight holds to send the second to a tiebreaker. After trading mini-breaks to start, Auger-Aliassime went on to win six points on the bounce at 1-2, capping off the match with back-to-back aces.
Last year’s runner-up Auger-Aliassime will return to the semifinals, where he will face world No. 11 Daniil Medvedev on Friday.
Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
