Borna Coric continues to fight his way against the odds at the Cincinnati tournament, where he beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4 in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Ranked 152nd in the world, the Croatian defeated the Quebecer and seventh seed in one hour and 42 minutes.
In the second round, Coric defeated none other than Rafael Nadal.
Auger-Aliassime had 12 aces on Friday, but he also committed five double faults.
The Canadian took advantage of one of these aces to keep his service in the second end.
On his next chance on serve, Auger-Aliassime didn’t allow a point, taking a 2-1 lead.
At 3-3, however, his rival signed a break when Auger-Aliassime sent a ball into the net.
The Quebecer did enough to approach 4-5, but Coric did not concede anything in the 10th and final game.
The match ended with a long exchange where a backhand from the Canadian hit the net, but not in a favorable way. Coric was able to direct the ball far to the backhand of the opponent, whose raise was off target.
In the semi-finals, Coric will face Carlos Alcaraz or Cameron Norrie.
The other semi-final will pit favorite Daniil Medvedev against seventh-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Medvedev inflicted a 7-6(1), 6-3 loss to Taylor Fritz.
Faller of Denis Shapovalov in the previous round, the Russian this time dismissed the 11th seed, thanks in particular to 32 winning moves.
Medvedev led 18-3 for aces. He collected the only break of the game and repelled six such balls.
Defeated in the second round in Montreal, Medvedez seems to have regained his bearings in Ohio.
He is guaranteed to remain the number 1 in the ATP until Flushing Meadows, at the very least.
Medvedev triumphed in Los Cabos last month. This season, he made it to the finals in Melbourne, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Halle.
Tsitsipas beat John Isner 7-6 (5), 5-7 and 6-3.
On the women’s side, Madison Keys settled Elena Rybakina’s case in 91 minutes, winning 6-2, 6-4.
Keys has yet to drop a set in the tournament.
The 2019 Cincinnati champion, Keys outshot the defending Wimbledon champion 21-11.
Rybakina also committed 25 unforced errors, while Keys limited himself to 16.
Keys will face Petra Kvitova in the semifinals. Kvitova beat Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 6-3.