TURIN, Italy – Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated two-time champion Alexander Zverev to claim the final spot in the semifinals of the ATP Finals on Friday.
The Canadian’s reward? Carlos Alcaraz, who is fresh off claiming the year-end No. 1 ranking after winning all three of his group matches.
“This is a high value tournament for players,” Auger-Aliassime said. “It’s like a grand final and if you look at the list of champions there have been a lot of number 1s.
“You want to be in the final, but for that I need a great player. If I have that, I will take my chance.”
Eighth-seeded Auger-Aliassime won 6-4, 7-6 (4) to join Jannik Sinner in the advance from the Bjorn Borg group. Earlier, Sinner completed a sweep of his round-robin matches by defeating the already eliminated Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Sinner will next face seventh-seeded Alex de Minaur. The final is on Sunday.
Third-seeded Zverev and Auger-Aliassime knew the winner would advance to the semifinals.
Auger-Aliassime seemed to handle nerves better than Zverev, especially in the second set, although he squandered three set points in the opener before taking them in his fourth.
Zverev failed to convert on any of his four break point chances and made 18 of his 27 unforced errors in the second set, during which he repeatedly gestured at his team in frustration.
He sent an easy return into the net and gave Auger-Aliassime two match points. The Canadian only needed one, as Zverev hit a forehand long.
It will be Auger-Aliassime’s first appearance in the semifinals of the season-ending event for the top eight players.
“It feels great,” he said. “I always believed that I could be there in these moments, that I could win these kinds of games, but you still have to come and do it.
“Today there were a lot of emotions, I think, for both of us… and I played well when I needed to… I’m blessed and so happy to be in the semi-finals.”
Spotless sinner
After seeing Alcaraz collect the No. 1 player trophy shortly before his match, Sinner proved he was still the man to beat in Turin.
Cheered on by a noisy home crowd, the defending champions completed a flawless group stage. Sinner hasn’t lost a set or service game all week. The Italian also did not drop a set in his five matches on his way to the title last year.
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