Canada’s Auger-Aliassime through to Stuttgart semifinals after win over Humbert

STUTTGART, Germany – Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is through to the semifinals of the Stuttgart Open after posting a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) win over France’s Ugo Humbert on Friday.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded third at the ATP 250 grass-court tennis event, relied on his powerful serve, striking 17 aces to Humbert’s four.

Both players held serve throughout the tightly contested match. Humbert and Auger-Aliassime each faced just three break points, and saved them all.

Auger-Aliassime evened his career record against Humbert at 1-1. Their first meeting also came on grass, with Humbert defeating Auger-Aliassime in the second round of Wimbledon in 2019.

Auger-Aliassime next faces American veteran Sam Querrey on Saturday. It will mark the first ATP Tour meeting between the two.

Querrey advanced to the semifinals with a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Switzerland’s Dominic Stephan Stricker.

Meanwhile, top seed Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., lost 7-5, 7-6 (3) to Croatia’s Marin Cilic in another quarterfinal match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2021.