The Canadian managed to beat the Brit in straight sets to reach the final four of the tournament.
Felix Auger Aliassime is into the semifinals of the ABN-AMRO World Tennis Tournament being hosted at the Ahoy in Rotterdam after beating the Brit Cameron Norrie in straight sets 7-5, 7-6 in two hours and seven minutes.
The Canadian hit 46 winners and 13 aces while winning 86% of his first-serve points.
“It’s always a tough match with Cameron, he’s where he is at for a reason and he is very difficult to play and he makes you work for a lot of points and he makes you suffer physically and it was tough as expected but I responded well, I served well when I needed to and I finished strong.”
The Montreal native held the opening service game and earned an early chance to break in the second game but the Brit was able to save it and hold serve as well.
It stayed on serve until 4-3 when the Canadian earned another breakpoint but this time was able to convert and gave himself a chance to serve for the first set.
The world number 13 fought back the very next game breaking Auger Aliassime to love after the Canadian served a double fault on triple breakpoint in a poor service game and the set was back on serve.
At 6-5, the Canadian earned two set points and clinched the first set on the following point to take a 1-0 set lead.
The first two games of the second set went on serve and it was the Brit who earned another three chances to break serve and got his first break sealed with a stunning forehand winner to take a 2-1 lead.
Norrie saved two breakpoints on route to consolidate the break and saved two more at 3-2 but at 4-3, the world number nine was finally able to break right back, and just like that the set was back on serve.
The set stayed on serve until 6-5 when the Montreal native earned two match points but the Brit saved both and the set was decided by a tiebreaker.
In that breaker, Auger Aliassime got the first break using his big forehand to jump out to a 2-0 lead but lost the next two points before winning the next two and taking a 4-2 lead.
At 6-2, the Canadian had four more match points but Norrie saved two before the world number nine served out the match and the win.
Auger Aliassime will now face the defending champion Andrey Rublev after the Russian was able to beat Marton Fucsovics in the rematch of last year’s final 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 14 minutes.
The Montreal native gave his thoughts about the matchup in his post-match press conference.
“Andrey has been one of the best players in the world for the last few years so it would be a tough matchup and I never beat him before.”
They have officially met twice on tour with the Russian winning both times once in Umag on clay and Adelaide in Australia on a hard court.
Tsitsipas Handles De Minaur
Stefanos Tsitsipas earlier in the day booked his spot in the semis after beating the Aussie Alex De Minaur in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 31 minutes serving three aces and winning 82% of his first-serve points.
“It was a great battle out there, proud of my athletic strength and proud of the way I was able to close games especially the ones that demanded a lot of me and I am happy with the game and the work.”
The first set was a tightly contested battle and at 2-2 the Greek had six chances to break and it took until the sixth opportunity when the Aussie served a double fault to gift the break.
That break of serve was enough for the number one seed in the tournament to serve out the first set.
Winning the first set gave Tsitsipas all the momentum he needed and he used it at the beginning of the second set breaking De Minaur in the opening game and holding serve to take a 2-0 lead.
The following game he broke the Aussie again for the double break lead but De Minaur broke right back the following game but that one break was enough for the world number four to serve out the match.
In his post-game press conference, he gave his thoughts on his next opponent Jiri Lehecka who managed to beat the Italian Lorenzo Musetti in three sets 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 in two hours, and 10 minutes to reach his first-ever ATP semi-final.
“He has nothing to be afraid of and he just enjoys his tennis and plays the best he can and for me to treat him like a normal opponent and he hasn’t been on tour long and I am ready for the battle.”
Rublev is looking to become the sixth player in tournament history to win the tournament in back-to-back years and would join a list that includes Arthur Ashe, Stefan Edberg, Nicolas Escude, Robin Soderling, and Gael Monfils.
