Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime continues his stellar run at Paris 2024, knocking off Casper Ruud of Norway 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 in a thrilling three-set match in the men’s quarterfinal on Thursday.
Auger-Aliassime’s serve played a big part in his victory. He converted 45 service winners, while Ruud only had 24.
Ruud pushed Auger-Aliassime in the second set, forcing a tiebreak, which the Norwegian would take to force a decisive third set.
After gaining a 3-0 advantage in the final set, Ruud would try to push the Canadian but was unable to force a comeback.
This is the second top-ranked player the 23-year-old has knocked off in Paris so far after beating Daniil Medvedev in the third round.
The road doesn’t get any easier for Auger-Aliassime as he will now take on Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinal. The 21-year-old beat American Tommy Paul to become the fifth Spaniard to reach the men’s singles semifinals since the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
In the other semifinal, Novak Djokovic will take on Italian Lorenzo Musetti for a place in the gold medal match. Djokovic overcame a knee injury to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The Serbian had surgery on his knee back in June and was able to stay in the match after having treatment on the court.
Auger-Aliassime also is going to the mixed doubles semifinals with Gabriela Dabrowski. The Canadians beat Americans Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz 7-6 (2-), 3-6, 10-8 later Thursday.
