Félix Auger-Aliassime has secured a spot in the semifinals of the Paris Masters tennis tournament, gaining valuable points towards qualifying for the ATP Finals. He clinched a 6-2, 6-2 victory over wildcard entrant Valentin Vacherot from Monaco, setting up a semifinal clash with 13th-seeded Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan.
This win places Auger-Aliassime just 90 points behind Lorenzo Musetti in the race for the final spot at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. If he wins the upcoming semifinal, he will surpass the Italian player, who was eliminated in the tournament’s second round.
Auger-Aliassime had been navigating tough three-set matches and tiebreakers earlier in the competition, while Vacherot was on a hot streak with ten consecutive wins at the ATP 1000 level. Despite the challenge, Auger-Aliassime, seeded ninth in Paris, delivered a stellar performance, dominating with an 89% first-serve points won and saving both break points he faced.
Reflecting on his victory, Auger-Aliassime acknowledged the unique challenge posed by Vacherot’s form and expressed satisfaction with his own focused and intense play from the outset. His strategic game plan limited Vacherot to just 6 return points out of 39 attempts, while he capitalized on 49% of his returns and broke his opponent four times.
Auger-Aliassime, aiming for his ninth career title and first at the Masters level, will meet Bublik in the next round after the Kazakh player upset sixth-seeded Alex de Minaur of Australia in a hard-fought match.
In the women’s competition, Canadians Victoria Mboko and Leylah Fernandez are set to compete in the Hong Kong Open semifinals following their quarterfinal victories. Fernandez, seeded second, defeated Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-4, while Mboko, seeded third, received a walkover after Russian player Anna Kalinskaya retired mid-match. The winner of their semifinal match will challenge either Spain’s Cristina Bucsa or Australia’s Maya Joint in the final. Mboko and Fernandez are currently ranked 21st and 22nd, respectively.
