Felix Auger Aliassime edged past Marin Cilic 6-4 3-6 6-2 to reach the semifinals at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.
Auger Aliassime saved four break points in the fourth and sixth games before breaking serve at 30 in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and served out on his second set point in the 10th game to win the first set 6-4.
Cilic saved two break points before breaking serve at love in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead and held on his next service games to win the second set 6-3 levelling the match to one set apiece. Cilic won 77% of his first serve points in the second set.
Auger Aliassime faced two break points, but he was never broken in the third set. He broke serve in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. The North American broke again on his third match point to close out the third set 6-2.
Auger Aliassime set up a semifinal against Quentin Halys, who came back from one set down to beat Luca Nardi 2-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5).
Auger Aliassime is seeking his third title of the season after winning in Adelaide and Montpellier and reached the semifinal in Doha.
Cilic was able to win back-to-back matches this week against Alex De Minaur and Alexei Popyrin. He won consecutive matches for the first time since last September.
Auger Aliassime fired 13 aces to Cilic’s 3 and converted three of his ten break points. The Canadian player improved his career head-to-head series against Cilic to 2-3.
Auger Aliassime secured his third consecutive three-set win in Dubai.
