Stefanos Tsitsipas has advanced to the semi-final of the Mexican Open after defeating seventh seed Felix Auger Aliassime this afternoon.
The Greek first seed came off the back of two safe wins against American John Isner and Frenchman Benoit Paire. The Greek had a great run in the ATP Rotterdam Cup only a few weeks ago, yet was knocked out in the semi-finals by Russian Andrey Rublev.
This time, Tsitsipas is looking to go all the way to the finals and claim his first Mexican Open.
It was a tough battle in the first set as Tsitsipas looked full of energy, delivering powerful serves. Auger Aliassime, however, held out well and challenged the Greek on every light shot. On the Canadians final service game, Tsitsipas earned a desperate break point, preventing a decider game and winning the first set 7-5.
Auger Aliassime improved his slightly lacklustre service game in the first set to absolutely dominate Tsitsipas in the second set. The Greek was unable to hold off a break point and went 4-2 down. Tsitsipas was unable to recover, with Auger Aliassime boasting a return rating 175, according to the ATP.
In the third set, it was again a close dual to see who would come on top and proceed through the next round of the Mexican Open. Looking to head into a decider game, Tsitsipas came from nowhere and dominated the Canadian on his service game, returning 40-0 and putting himself at a 5-3 lead. The Greek went on to win the match 6-3.
Tsitsipas will face Dominik Koepfer or the winner of today’s match between Musetti and Dimitrov.
