Felix Auger-Aliassime and Arthur Rinderknech will face off for the third time in their careers and for the third time this season when they compete in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday.
Both of their previous meetings went in favor of Auger-Aliassime. He won 7-5, 6-3 on the grass courts of Mallorca before parting ways with Rinderknech, while leading 7-6(4), 4-2 at the Cincinnati Masters. Rinderknech collapsed in extreme heat, a terrifying scene in Cincinnati that appears to be repeating itself — or at least close to it — amid incredibly humid conditions in Shanghai.
Fortunately for Auger-Aliassime and Rinderknech, they have had no such problems while watching other players around them wither away. In fact, the two of them have only lost one set this entire tournament, leaving them with long, grueling marathons like the Daniil Medvedev vs. Learner have avoided Ten Marathon, for example.
Auger-Aliassime is in particularly great form. The 13th-ranked Canadian is 11-2 in his last 13 matches, a stretch that includes a quarterfinal in Cincinnati, a semifinal at the US Open and victories in Shanghai over Alejandro Tabilo, Jesper de Jong and Lorenzo Musetti. The fact that Auger-Aliassime has not dropped a set in these two weeks is particularly impressive given the good play of Tabilo and Musetti.
Rinderknech reached the fourth round at Flushing Meadows (losing to eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz) and continued his good form with Shanghai defeats of Hamad Medjedovic, Alex Michelsen, Alexander Zverev (three sets) and Jiri Lehecka.
However, this was not a favorable match for the Frenchman in 54th place and that may not change on Friday. Rinderknech thrives on a big serve-plus-one combination with his forehand, but Auger-Aliassime is one of the best returners in the game right now. The No. 12 seed has made nine break serves in six sets in Shanghai so far.
Choice: Auger-Aliassime in 2
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