Félix Auger-Aliassime is back in the semifinals of the Open Occitanie in Montpellier, France for the second year in a row after a clinical victory over Yunchaokete Bu in the quarter-finals on Friday.
The second-seeded Canadian was dialed in throughout the clash, using his big baseline game to bully Bu around the court. His serve was almost untouchable and he cruised into the final four with a 6-3, 6-4 win.
It was a classic Auger-Aliassime performance, where he delivered 11 aces, won 86 per cent of his first serve points, and never faced a break point. In the rallies, he blasted 19 winners to his opponent’s 12, while committing 15 unforced errors.
“My game is more disciplined,” said Auger-Aliassime in his on-court interview after the win. “I feel like last year, I had some brilliant shots but some moments when I made a lot of mistakes and I feel like now, two straight set wins, it’s more solid and I’m happy with that. That’s the goal, to go to another level, and hopefully I go one more step and make it to the finals on Sunday.”
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Early on, Bu came out trying to match Auger-Aliassime big shot for big shot, but the Chinese struggled to keep up with the Canadian’s power. In the fourth game, Auger-Aliassime pummeled Bu from the baseline and was rewarded with a break point chance when the Chinese netted a forehand. Bu again cracked under the second seed’s onslaught, sending a backhand long to surrender the early break.
From there, Auger-Aliassime did what he does best, locking in and riding his serve the rest of the way. He dropped just two points on serve after securing the break and cruised through the rest of the opening set.
Auger-Aliassime kept up the pressure in the second. He had a pair of break points in the opening game and another in the fifth, but Bu was able to pull out some impressive shots, including a spectacular backhand passing shot from well off the court, to save them.
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But the Montrealer was not to be denied. At 3-3, Bu sprayed a forehand wide to set up another break point and this time, a clever drop shot from Auger-Aliassime drew an error to secure the break. Just like the first set, he clamped down on serve and never gave his opponent a chance to get back in it. Serving for the match, Auger-Aliassime hit four straight unreturnable serves, three being aces, to punch his ticket to the semis.
A year ago, Auger-Aliassime was beaten in the semis by the eventual champion Alexander Bublik. This time around, he will face Jesper de Jong.
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