Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada plays a forehand return to Daniil Medvedev of Russia at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 20, 2024. Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals of the Open Sud de France tennis tournament with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 win over French wild-card Harold Mayot on Friday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
February 02, 2024 - 1:34 PM
MONTPELLIER, France - Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals of the Open Sud de France tennis tournament with a convincing 7-5, 6-1 win over French wild-card Harold Mayot on Friday.
After coming up second-best in the service game in his tough second-round win over up-and-coming Frenchman Arthur Cazeaux on Thursday, the third seed from Montreal looked to be back to his old self against Mayot.
Auger-Aliassime had 10 aces, hit into just two double-faults and won 65 per cent of service points in a match that took 79 minutes to complete.
He also faced just two break points. While he didn't defend either, he broke Mayot five times on six chances.
Auger-Aliassime, ranked 30th in the world, will next face second seed Alexander Bublik.
The 23-year-old Canadian has a 2-1 career record against the native of Kazakhstan, including a victory in 2022 en route to his fourth title of 2022 in Basel, Switzerland.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2024.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly stated that Auger-Aliassime sved the two break points he faced.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2024