The sixth seed in the tournament hit 15 aces in a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Cameron Norrie of Great Britain. 4th seed Casper Ruud (Norway) is next.
Article Author:
Pat Hickey • Montreal Gazette
Hometown favorite Félix Auger-Aliassime finished the quarter. It's over - the finals of the National Bank Open for the first time in five.
His 22-year-old Montreal, who is seeded No. 6, beat No. Los he lost to lefties in the semi-finals of the tournament in Cabos. He enjoys a career record of 5 wins and 1 loss against Norrie.
It was fitting that Auger-Aliassime served his ace on his point in the match, as Auger-Aliassime's serve contributed to the win. He had his 15-serving aces, but Norris had none of him. He never even faced a point when he broke. He put his 85% of his first serve into play and scored his 92% of those points.
Auger-Aliassime's aggressive play wasn't the only statistic to be seen. He came to the net 11 times, scoring 10 of those points. He also had 29 winners to just 11 for Norrie.
Next to Auger-Aliassime is No. 4 seed Norwegian Casper his Ruud. He is the highest seed remaining in the tournament.
Center His lengthy opener on court and his 69-minute rain delay forced the organizers to adjust Thursday's schedule. Auger-Aliassime was scheduled to play in the third match of the afternoon session, but he was promoted as Nick Kyrgios and Alex de Minaur's All-Australia match was moved to the grandstand. Kyrgios won the match comfortably, he won 6-2, 6-3.
Ruud beat 14th seed Roberto Bautista in a match that lasted 3 hours and 18 minutes. He beat Agut of Spain 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 6-4. I got it down. It was the second-longest match at the Canadian Open since the ATP began tracking match times in 1991. It was two minutes shorter than Tommy Paul's three-set victory over second-seeded Carlos Alcalaz on Wednesday.
Lourd said Bautista had benefited from the rain after Agut won the first match of the third set.
"It was a tough fight," Ruud said. “The first two sets were 2 hours and 20 minutes. It was very intense and felt a little in my legs. Luckily it was raining so I had time to breathe and regain my energy. Thank you for giving me that extra time and energy.
was," said Ruud, who has lost his last two games against the Spaniard. “Very good quality first two sets. It was frustrating to not find a hole in his game. He is a very tough player and one of the best in the last 6, 7, 8 years. I think every young player should look up to him, how professional he is and how great he is as a fighter, runner and competitor.”
No. 8 Seeded Poland's Hubert Harkacz beat Spain's Alberto Ramos Vinolas 6-7(6), 6-2, 7-6(3). The
tournament experienced a series of upsets rarely seen at this level.
Top three seeds Daniil Medvedev, Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas all lost their first matches on Wednesday.
The last time a top three seed lost an opener in a Masters 1000 event was at Indian Wells in 1999, when top seed Pete Sampras lost to Felix his Mantilla. . No. 2 Yevgeny Kafelnikov lost to Gustavo Kuerten and No. 3 Alex Corretja lost to Mark Philippoussis.
phickey@postmedia.com
twitter.com/zababes1
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Auger-Aliassime confident of rematch with Cameron Norry
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Félix Auger-Aliassime is the last Canadian to stand at the National Bank Open
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