Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has progressed to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters after defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti with a score of 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday. The Montreal native, seeded 12th, sealed the match with back-to-back aces in an hour and 25 minutes on the hard court. This victory leveled his head-to-head record with Musetti at four wins each and halted the Italian’s two-match winning streak, which included triumphs at the 2024 Paris Olympics and this year’s Miami Masters.
Auger-Aliassime, aged 25, is now set to square off against France’s Arthur Rinderknech in the quarterfinals. Rinderknech overcame 15th-seeded Jiri Lehecka from the Czech Republic in a 6-3, 7-6 (5) victory. The Canadian has previously defeated Rinderknech in encounters earlier this season in Cincinnati and Mallorca.
Auger-Aliassime concluded the match with six aces compared to Musetti’s three, only committing one double fault. He dominated on his first-serve points, winning 76 per cent, while Musetti managed 59 per cent. Auger-Aliassime capitalized on three out of six break opportunities and did not lose a single service game.
Following Gabriel Diallo’s defeat to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in the Round of 16, Auger-Aliassime remains the sole Canadian representative in Shanghai. In other matches, seventh-seeded Alex De Minaur from Australia progressed with a 7-5, 6-2 win against Portugal’s Nuno Borges and is now awaiting the winner between American Learner Tien and Russia’s Daniil Medvedev.
In the Wuhan Open, top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky start to beat unseeded Rebecca Sramkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Sabalenka, the defending champion, has a flawless record of 18-0 in Wuhan, clinching titles in 2018, 2019, and 2024. The U.S. Open champion staged a comeback by breaking her opponent in the final set’s opening game and securing the win after almost two hours of play.
Sabalenka is now scheduled to face No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova, who rallied to defeat 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
REWRITE_BLOCKED: The requested action involves rewriting content that is not visible.
