Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime secured a spot in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters by defeating Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2 on Wednesday. Auger-Aliassime, seeded 12th and hailing from Montreal, sealed the victory with back-to-back aces after an hour and 25 minutes of play on the hard court. This win leveled his head-to-head record against Musetti at four wins apiece and brought an end to Musetti’s recent winning streak that included victories at the 2024 Paris Olympics and this year’s Miami Masters.
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime is set to face France’s Arthur Rinderknech in the upcoming quarterfinals. Rinderknech overcame 15th-seeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic with a score of 6-3, 7-6 (5). Auger-Aliassime has previously triumphed in both of their encounters earlier this season in Cincinnati and Mallorca.
Auger-Aliassime showcased a strong performance, finishing with six aces compared to Musetti’s three, committing only one double fault, and winning 76% of his first-serve points, outperforming Musetti’s 59%. He capitalized on three out of six break opportunities and managed to maintain his serve throughout the match.
Following Auger-Aliassime’s advancement, Gabriel Diallo from Montreal was eliminated in the Round of 16 by Belgium’s Zizou Bergs in a closely contested match that ended 6-3, 5-7, 6-7 (8).
In a separate event, seventh-seeded Alex De Minaur from Australia progressed to the next round with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Portugal’s Nuno Borges. De Minaur is set to face either American Learner Tien or Russia’s Daniil Medvedev in the subsequent round.
At the Wuhan Open, top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka faced an initial challenge but ultimately triumphed over unseeded Rebecca Sramkova with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday. Sabalenka, the defending champion, has an impeccable record in Wuhan, having won titles in 2018, 2019, and 2024 with an undefeated streak of 18 matches.
Sabalenka, who recently won the U.S. Open, expressed her satisfaction with her performance, highlighting her resilience after a tough start in the match. She will face No. 16 seed Liudmila Samsonova in the next round, who secured a comeback victory against 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin.
In another match, sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula overcame Hailey Baptiste in a nail-biting tiebreaker to advance to the third round. Pegula will next face ninth-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated American Ann Li in straight sets.
Elsewhere, No. 3 Coco Gauff cruised to the next round with a dominant 6-1, 6-0 win over Moyuka Uchijima in just 51 minutes. However, eleventh-seeded Naomi Osaka suffered an upset at the hands of unseeded Linda Noskova, who emerged victorious with a score of 7-6 (2), 6-3. Noskova will face either Jaqueline Cristian or Elena Rybakina in the following round.
