Paris: Felix Auger-Aliassime nears No. 8 in ATP Finals race after halting Valentin Vacherot
The Canadian reached his 10th tour-level semifinal of the year, while ending the wild card's 10-match win streak on the Masters 1000 stage.
PARIS (AP)—Felix Auger-Aliassime ended Valentin Vacherot's impressive run at the Paris Masters on Friday with a 6-2, 6-2 win in the quarterfinals.
Vacherot had won his previous 10 Masters matches—highlighted when he defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to win his first title in Shanghai earlier this month—but Auger-Aliassime proved too strong for the Monegasque player as he advanced to his fourth Masters semifinal.
"I tried to keep these good bearings for this match. I tried to focus on my own game, and this is what I did," Auger-Aliassime said in the French-language portion of his press conference. "Everything that was in my control I actually could roll out, and sometimes I had good ideas and I managed to implement that."
🖥️📲 The Match In 15 Minutes: Auger-Aliassime vs. Vacherot, Paris Masters
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime has reached 10 tour-level semifinals this season, going on to win titles in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels.
The Canadian will next meet Alex de Minaur or Alexander Bublik, playing their quarterfinal later Friday.
Also Friday, Jannik Sinner continues his bid to reclaim the No. 1 ranking when he faces fifth-seeded Ben Shelton. Sinner will return to No. 1 if he wins the tournament.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev faced 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev in the other quarterfinal.