Félix Auger-Aliassime fought till the very end in his Terra Wortmann Open quarter-final battle against Francis Tiafoe, but the Canadian No. 1 came up short in the over two-and-a-half-hour contest on Friday.
Auger-Aliassime broke in the fourth game of the opener en route to taking the set, and Tiafoe did the same in the second to force a decider. Both players then needed a tiebreaker to settle the match, the seventh tiebreaker across the day’s four quarter-finals, and it was the American No. 4 who booked his ticket into the final four, outlasting the Canuck 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(12).
The 25-year-old struggled to keep his unforced errors tally down as he finished with 48, his most costly coming off the backhand side.
Auger-Aliassime was picking his spots on serve early on as the Canadian fired three aces at 15-all for the opening service hold. In the third game, the 25-year-old’s delivery would get him out of some trouble at 30-40, winning the next three points with two coming off aces.
Tiafoe’s serve didn’t quite get off to as hot of a start. The American only made half his first serves through his opening three service games and his second-serve win rate sat at 33 per cent over that span. Auger-Aliassime took advantage on return, breaking from 1-2, love-40, and holding another break point in the sixth game but Tiafoe avoided further damage and kept the set at 4-2 in favour of the Canuck.
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Auger-Aliassime didn’t slow down on his serve, conceding just one service point and adding five aces to his tally to clinch the opener.
The Montrealer piled the pressure right from the beginning of the second as his big forehand found the corner at 15-30 in the first game, leading to double break point. However, Tiafoe saved both and later returned the favour. At 1-2, 15-30, the American’s timely first winner of the match gave him two attempts to crack Auger-Aliassime’s serve, and the world No. 26 converted on the second try thanks to a deft drop shot.
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Tiafoe won eight-straight points on his serve after saving break point in the fifth game, before sealing the set from 5-3, 30-all, to bring the match to a third.
Just when Auger-Aliassime pulled away with a break in the second game, Tiafoe came storming back, winning seven points on the fly from 2-0, 40-30, to even the set at two apiece.
After both players found some comfort on their delivery, the Canadian had daylight at 3-4, love-30, but couldn’t gain the chance to serve for the match. Tiafoe later held his nerve at 5-6, 30-all, and forced a deciding tiebreaker.
The American scored the first mini-break to go 3-1 in front but Auger-Aliassime managed to equalize before heading into the changeover. At 5-5, both players traded match points with each holding three prior to the fourth change of ends. At 12-12, a costly mini-break handed “Big Foe” the first opportunity to serve on match point, where his delivery was left unreturned to seal his first victory against Auger-Aliassime in five meetings.
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Feature Photo: Martin Sidorjak
