(Rotterdam) Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime rolled up his sleeves to defeat Andrey Rublev in three sets of 6-7 (5), 6-4 and 6-2, on Saturday, and thus obtain his pass for the final of the Rotterdam tournament.
Posted at 4:10 p.m.
Auger-Aliassime, seeded third, was particularly effective at the net (86% success), to overcome the 7and world player in two hours 21 minutes.
Auger-Aliassime had lost the first two clashes of his career against Rublev, 2and seeded in the tournament played in the Netherlands.
The 9and world racket will face Stefanos Tsitsipas, 4and world racket, in the final. The duel will be presented on Sunday around 9:30 a.m. Eastern time.
The pair have crossed swords seven times on the ATP Tour and Tsitsipas has emerged victorious five times. Auger-Aliassime hasn’t beaten the Greek since 2019.
Tsitsipas came from behind against a qualified player in his semi-final match to reach his first final since the French Open last June.
The first seed ended the run of the player from the qualifier Jiri Lehecka in three sets of 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Tsitsipas needed nearly two hours to defeat Lehecka, 137and world racket and Canadian Denis Shapovalov’s heartthrob.
The Greek admitted that he didn’t expect such aggressive play from Lehecka.
Auger-Aliassime reached the semi-finals of this ATP 500 tournament by eliminating Briton Cameron Norrie in the quarter-finals.