The world number needed three sets and over two hours to dispatch the Canadian.
Stefanos Tsitipas booked his spot in the semi-final of the Western and Southern Open in Mason, Ohio by beating the Montreal native Felix Auger Aliassime in three sets 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in two hours and 11 minutes.
“I did a good job of insisting from my end and being patient and I felt like I put a lot of pressure from the very beginning and somehow in control but things kinda slipped in the second set with a few points here and there and the key today was I kept calm and my eyes were on the target and in the third set I was able to maintain that level of tennis and I was able to see the court better and take time away from my opponent.”
The Greek managed to hit 22 winners in the victory while the world number 17 hit 34 unforced errors in the loss and was visibly disappointed in the loss in his post-match press conference.
The first three games of the match went on serve and at 2-1, it was the world number three with three chances to break and broke the Canadian to love to take a 3-1 lead.
At 5-2 with the world number 17 serving to stay in the match Tsitsipas was able to secure another break of serve to take the first set.
The second set stayed on serve until 3-2 when Auger Aliassime called the trainer and took a medical timeout to have work done on his back and confirmed after that he started to feel tension during the match.
At 5-4 with the Canadian serving to stay in the match he faced two match points from the Greek but managed to save both and hold at a critical juncture of the match.
The very next game the Montreal native finally got the break of serve he was looking for and managed to serve out the second set to force a third and deciding set.
That’s when the world number three took over the match and at 2-1 managed to get another early break to take a 3-1 lead and turned that break into a double break as the Canadian struggled with his serve.
The Greek would serve out the match to book a spot in the final four where he will face Alexander Zverev who beat the Norweigan Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-1, 6-3.
After the match, he spoke about how excited he was to be back in Cincinnati and playing another Master 1000 series semifinal.
“It feels good to be back in Cincinnati and the fans have been great so far and with the ambiance and the court I always look forward to playing here and it is beautiful to be part of this and have all the people by my side to give me their love and appreciation throughout the last couple of matches.”
In the other two quarterfinal matches of the day, the number one seed Danil Medvedev blitzed the Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1, 6-1 in 54 minutes and will face his fellow Russian Andrey Rublev who beat the Frenchman Benoit Paire in three sets 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
