It is not good to face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the fall. In 2022, the Canadian won three indoor titles in a row (Florence, Antwerp and Basel) before failing in the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters against Holger Rune. This year, the 19th player in the world had just retained his title in Switzerland and was riding a wave of six victories in a row before challenging Stefanos Tsitsipas.
But the series stopped there, after the victory on Wednesday in two sets of the 6th in the world 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). FAA, however, obtained four equalizing points in a set everywhere: 3 to 5-2 on his opponent’s service and one on his own in the following game. Each time, the 25-year-old found the solution by displaying newfound confidence.
Very close to returning to his best level after a period of uncertainty following his last title in Los Cabos at the beginning of August, Tsitsipas has just played two semi-finals in a row in Antwerp and Vienna. His ascending form was confirmed in the way he was able to break Auger-Aliassime’s momentum, showing himself to be impactful in his attacks and solid in defense, thanks to his fiery legs.
With only 9 unforced errors for double the winning points, he left too few openings for the Canadian, who was clearly reinvigorated after a season spent under the radar. For a place in the quarter-finals, Tsitsipas will face the winner of the match between Ugo Humbert and Alexander Zverev.
