Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime serves against Russia's Daniil Medvedev during their quarterfinal tennis match of the ABN AMRO tournament at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands, Friday, Feb. 17, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Peter Dejong
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands – Félix Auger-Aliassime’s bid for a second straight Rotterdam Open title came to an end Friday with a 6-2, 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Daniil Medvedev.
Auger-Aliassime won his first career ATP Tour title at the indoor tennis tournament last year. He went on to win three more indoor titles and help Canada to a Davis Cup championship in a breakout season.
On Friday, however, Medvedev proved more than a match for Auger-Aliassime and improved to 5-0 against the world No. 8 from Montreal.
The Russian veteran, who came into the tournament ranked No. 11 on the ATP Tour but was No. 1 as recently as Aug. 29, scored two straight breaks to take a 5-2 lead in the first set.
Auger-Aliassime challenged to get back in the set, but Medvedev overcame double-break point in the eighth game, setting up set point with an ace then taking the set when Auger-Aliassime committed an unforced error.
The players exchanged breaks early in the second set, with Auger-Aliassime’s only break of the match levelling the set at 2-2.
Medvedev scored a key break in the seventh game when Auger-Aliassime hit a shot wide and held on for a win that took just over one hour 23 minutes to complete.
Medvedev will next face Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov, who advanced to the semifinals with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over Australia’s Alex de Minaur.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2023.
