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Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Alexander Zverev to help Canada clinch a place in the semifinals of the 2022 ATP Cup. Aliassime came into the match knowing that victory would be enough for qualification, thanks to Denis Shapovalov's win over Jan-Lennard Struff earlier. A victory for Great Britain earlier in the day over the U.S. meant Germany was already eliminated from the tournament.
Alexander Zverev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime score
Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Alexander Zverev 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
Alexander Zverev vs Felix Auger-Aliassime recap
With the semifinals on the line, Auger-Aliassime started the match on fire and broke the Zverev serve in the very first game. Zverev, however, slowly settled down and got back into the game, manufacturing four break points of his own in the sixth game. But Auger-Aliassime kept his nerve and focus, leaning on his huge serve to get himself out of trouble and maintain his one-break lead. The Canadian escaped further hiccups as he rode his momentum to clinch the first set 6-4 in 46 minutes.
With one foot in the semifinals, Auger-Aliassime put his other foot on the accelerator at the start of the second set. The Canadian took balls early to shorten the points and keep Zverev at arm's length. Both players held serve relatively comfortably in the opening exchanges of the set.
It wasn't until the seventh game that Zverev cracked. The German offered Auger-Aliassime four break points only to save them all, much to the frustration of the Canadian. The missed opportunity would prove costly for Auger-Aliassime as Zverev promptly broke in the very next game to earn himself an opportunity to serve for the second set.
To his credit, Auger-Aliassime put his frustrations aside and reacted positively as he bought himself another break point opportunity, which he finally converted after a backhand error from Zverev. All of a sudden, neither player seemed able to hold serve and the Canadian soon found himself down 0-40 while serving to stay in the set. Despite his valiant efforts, Zverev converted his third break point to take the match into a deciding set.
The opening of the third set followed the pattern of the second, with both players defending their service games with little discomfort. Aliassime overcame a deuce game on his serve in the sixth game to level the score at 3-3. In the end, it was Zverev who faultered and was broken after an error strewn service game.
The Canadian consolidated his break of serve to open up a 5-3 lead, forcing Zverev to serve to stay in the match. Aliassime then broke the German's serve again to clinch the set 6-3 and book Canada's place in the semifinals.
Also Check Out: Updated ATP Cup 2022 Results
