Felix Auger-Aliassime will compete in his fourth Masters 1000 semi-final in Paris. The Canadian faced Valentin Vacherot in the quarter-final and scored a dominant 6-2, 6-2 victory in an hour and 18 minutes.
Thus, Felix ended Valentin's ten-match winning streak at a Masters 1000 level and moved a win away from passing Lorenzo Musetti and qualifying for the ATP Finals!
The Monegasque played below the below he produced in the previous matches in Shanghai and Paris. He dropped half of the points in his games and suffered four breaks from eight chances offered to his opponent.
Auger-Aliassime served well, defending two break points in the final game of the match and moving over the top in style. The Canadian landed 22 winners and ten unforced errors.
He tamed his strokes nicely and forged the upper hand from the baseline and at the net. The 9th seed had the upper hand in the mid-range exchanges and played flawless tennis at the net to emerge at the top in style.
Valentin experienced a massive setback in the first game of the duel. He squandered game points and got broken after Felix's sharp return that caused an error. The Canadian served well and pressured his rival.
The Monegasque suffered a break at love in the fifth game to fall further behind. Auger-Aliassime closed the sixth game with a forehand winner and landed an ace at 5-2 for another hold at love, wrapping up the first part of the duel in 38 minutes.
Vacherot saved a break point at the beginning of the second set and stayed in touch. However, he sprayed a double fault at 2-2 to lose serve and move closer to the exit door.
Keeping his focus, Felix welcomed the rival's backhand error in the seventh game to deliver another break and extend the advantage. The 9th seed served for the win at 5-2 and faced two break points.
He denied them and drew the rival's forehand mistake to emerge at the top and move closer to a place at the ATP Finals.
