If there was any doubt that Felix Auger-Aliassime was a star of the future, then those doubts were put to rest in Lyon today.
The Canadian, 16, took down fourth seed Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 6-7, 6-4 in the most anticipated match of the Challenger this year. The youngster produced a remarkable display to move into his second career Challenger semi-final.
Auger-Aliassime won the first set behind a strong first serve display. He made 74% of his first serves, and dropped just two points when he landed the first serve. He scattered a poor second serve performance and broke his fellow teenager’s serve to win the first set.
Auger-Aliassime could have won the match in straight sets had he won the second set. Ruud fought back though, and after the players traded breaks the older man edged the tiebreak 7-4.
Yet Auger-Aliassime was far from beaten. The youngster resorted back to his first set display, not offering Rudd even a single break point. He capitalised on his only opportunity to take the set and the match in two hours and seventeen minutes.
The tournament has been a landmark week already for Auger-Aliassime. It is his third consecutive three set win after having edged both Nicolas Jarry and Laurynas Grigelis in the first two rounds. Ruud is a different class altogether though. The Norwegian has already built a formidable reputation on clay. He won the Seville Challenger last year as a qualifier and reached the semi-finals of the Rio Open this year.
Aliassime has a successful junior career behind him. He is the defending US Open Boy’s Singles champion, and won the Boy’s Doubles title with Denis Shapovalov in 2015. He was also a runner-up in the Roland Garros Boy’s Singles earlier this year.
Auger-Aliassime will have a wonderful chance to make his first Challenger final. He takes on unheralded Kazakh Aleksandr Nedovyesov in the semis. Nedovyesov has also had an excellent week. He has not dropped a set in his three wins. His run has included victories over second seed Marcel Granollers and Paul-Henri Mathieu.
Tristan Lamasine shocked top seed Horacio Zeballos 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. His reward is a match with compatriot Mathias Bourgue. Bourgue defeated qualifier Maxime Chazal 7-5, 7-6.
