(Rotterdam) Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, thanks to a 7-5, 7-6 (4) victory over Briton Cameron Norrie, Friday.
Posted at 5:01 p.m.
Updated at 5:48 p.m.
Auger-Aliassime, seeded third, put in a good performance, overcoming 13and world player in two hours seven minutes.
The 9and world racket finished the duel of this ATP 500 tournament with 46 winning strokes against only 14 for Norrie.
He will face the second seed, Andrey Rublev, in the next round. The Russian easily defeated the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (38and world) in two sets of 6-4, 6-3.
Auger-Aliassime has lost both career clashes to Rublev, including a hard-fought semi-final bout at the 2020 Adelaide tournament.
The Canadian had also reached the semi-finals of the Rotterdam tournament in 2020. He had lowered the flag in the final against the Frenchman Gaël Monfils in two sets. In 2021, he bowed out against the Japanese Kei Nishikori in the first round.
In the other semi-final, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, favorite of the tournament, will cross swords with Czech Jiri Lehecka, 137and world racket.
This is the second time that Auger-Aliassime has overcome Norrie in the young 2022 season. He also defeated him in two sets during the ATP Cup.