Felix Auger Aliassime beat Valentin Vacherot 6-2 6-2 in their first head-to-head matches in 1 hour and 18 minutes in the quarter final of the Paris Rolex Masters to reach his fourth Masters 1000 semifinal.
Auger Aliassime ended Vacherot’s ten match winning streak at Masters 1000 level. The Monegasque player won his first Masters 1000 title in Shanghai beating his cousin Artur Rinderknech.
Auger Aliassime saved two break points in the final set and hit 22 winners to 10 unforced errors.
Vacherot squandered game points in the first game and Auger Aliassime converted his third break point to take a 1-0 lead.
Auger Aliassime broke at love in the fifth game to open up a 4-1 lead. The Canadian player held serve in the sixth game with a forehand winner. He held serve at love in the eighth game with an ace to close out the first set 6-2 in 38 minutes.
Vacherot saved a break point in the first game of the second set. Auger Aliassime broke serve in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, when Vacherot made a double fault.
Auger Aliassime went up a double break in the seventh game when Vacherot made a backhand error. Auger Aliassime faced two break points, when he was serving for the match at 5-2, and saved them and forced a forehand error to seal the win on his first match point.
Auger Aliasime moved to within 145 points of Lorenzo Musetti in the ATP Live Race to Turin. The Canadian player reached ten semifinals this season and won three titles in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels. He rallied from a set down in his first three matches this week.
“Every opponent is different. It was an interesting challenge coming onto court today and playing a player I knew from practice but had never played in a match. He is so confident and you are kind of scared to be honest. You are not sure if he has got some magic right now that nobody else has but he is playing unbelievably. But I had to be so focused from the start and this level of intensity from the first game I brought helped ease me into the match and I played some good tennis”, said Auger Aliassime.
