DOHA, Qatar — Few obstacles have proven insurmountable to Felix Auger-Aliassime in his young tennis career, but Daniil Medvedev has so far been one of them.
The former world No. 1 from Russia downed Montreal's Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (7) in semifinal action Friday at the Qatar Open ATP 250 hard-court tournament.
Medvedev improved his record against Auger-Aliassime to 6-0 with his second victory over the Canadian in as many weeks.
Auger-Aliassime, who came into the tournament ranked No. 9 in the world, had his chances in the match.
After Medvedev scored the first break of the match to go up 5-4 in the first set, Auger-Aliassime responded by taking a 40-15 lead in Game 10. But Medvedev forced Auger-Aliassime into an error and then won a 13-shot rally to erase the break point en route to holding for the set.
Medvedev converted an early break to go up 2-1 in the second set, but a break by Auger-Aliassime tied the set at 3. Both players held the rest of the way to set up the tiebreak.
Auger-Aliassime had two set-point opportunities in the tiebreaker, but Medvedev saved them both before winning the match by converting his first set point on return.
Medvedev also won a matchup between the two in the quarterfinals at last week's Rotterdam Open, denying Auger-Aliassime his first chance to defend an ATP Tour title.
The Russian will face Andy Murray in Saturday's final. The British veteran advanced with a 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over Czechia's Jiri Lehecka.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 24, 2023.
The Canadian Press
