Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to within 145 points of Lorenzo Musetti in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin on Friday as he ended French wildcard Valentin Vacherot’s run to reach the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters.
Vacherot had won his past ten ATP Masters 1000 matches, culminating in his fairytale victory in the Shanghai final earlier this month. However, he was unable to match the weight and intensity of Auger-Aliassime in Paris, where the ninth seed secured a 6-2, 6-2 win to reach his fourth Masters 1000 semi-final.
“Every opponent is different. It was an interesting challenge to come on the field today and play against a player I knew from training but had never played in a match before. He has so much confidence and you are a bit scared to be honest,” said Auger-Aliassime. “You’re not sure if he has magic right now that no one else has, but he’s playing incredibly. But I had to be so focused from the start and this level of intensity from the first game that I brought helped me ease into the match and I played good tennis.”
Auger-Aliassime rallied from a set down in his first three matches in the French capital but was in control from the start in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head encounter against Vacherot. The 25-year-old, who broke Vacherot’s serve in the opening match, has reached 10 semi-finals at tour level this season, picking up trophies in Adelaide, Montpellier and Brussels.
Auger-Aliassime will next meet Alex de Minaur or Alexander Bublik. The eight-time tour level title winner is 145 points behind Musetti in the Live Race To Turin and will skip the Italian if he reaches the final. Auger-Aliassime is chasing his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals after qualifying in 2022.
He hit 22 winners and made 10 unforced errors in his win against Vacherot and is 47-21 on the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
“I try to win every match I play,” Auger-Aliassime added. “Whether it’s the end of the year or the beginning of the year, everything counts and counts in this sport. I think about the work I put in, the routines. I try to be consistent in my work and try to bring consistency to everything I do and it’s very satisfying when you get the consistency with your results.”
Vacherot stunned the tennis world when he won in Shanghai to become the lowest-ranked player in history to win a Masters 1000 title. The Monegasque star has risen ten places to number 30 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after his quarter-final in Paris.
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