Auger-Aliassime overcomes tough test against American Learner Tien to reach Halle Open quarters
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Montreal’s Félix Auger-Aliassime narrowly avoided an upset at the Terra Wortmann Open, rallying for a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over Learner Tien of the United States in second-round action Wednesday in Halle, Germany.
Auger-Aliassime, the tennis tournament’s second seed, trailed 4-1 and 5-3 in the third-set tiebreaker before clinching the match in two hours 31 minutes with four straight points.
The match was close despite Auger-Aliassime’s dominance on serve. He had 22 aces and won 88 per cent of first-serve points.
Breaks were hard to come by, with Auger-Aliassime converting two and Tien scoring one. But Auger-Aliassime’s win against serve to go up 6-5 in the second set was a turning point in a match that left little room for error.
A loss to world No. 19 Tien at the ATP 500 event would have put Auger-Aliassime’s career-high ranking of No. 4 in jeopardy, with No. 5 Alex de Minaur and No. 6 Ben Shelton still playing in tournaments this week.
Instead, a quarterfinal win in Halle over Frances Tiafoe will ensure he retains that ranking deeper into the grass-court season.
Auger-Aliassime is 3-0 against Tiafoe, but hasn’t faced the American since the Paris Masters quarterfinals in 2022.
Fernandez, partner win 81 per cent of 1st-serve points
Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and Ukraine’s Yuliia Starodubtseva advanced to the doubles quarterfinals at the Nottingham Open with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Taiwan’s Wu Fang-Hsien and Japan’s Eri Hozumi on Wednesday in England.
Fernandez and Starodubtseva were strong on serve, winning 81 per cent of first-serve points and 64 per cent on second serve.
The winners saved both break points they faced, while converting breaks on five of seven chances.
Fernandez and Starodubtseva will face another Taiwanese-Japanese combo in the quarterfinals at the WTA 250 grass-court event, second seeds Chan Hao-ching and Shuko Aoyama.
Fernandez, from Laval, Que., has struggled in singles play this year but has had an encouraging doubles run on grass so far.
She teamed with Germany’s Laura Siegemund to reach the final of the HSBC Championships last week
De Minaur dominant, again, vs. Shapovalov
Australia’s Alex de Minaur continued his mastery of Canada’s Denis Shapovalov on the ATP Tour with a 6-4, 6-1 win in second-round action Wednesday at the HSBC Championships in London, England.
De Minaur, the top seed at the ATP 500 grass-court event at West London’s Queen’s Club, improved to 6-0 against Shapovalov on the top men’s tennis circuit.
Shapovalov’s last win against de Minaur came nine years ago and about 18 kilometres away, when he beat the Australian in the final round of qualifying for the Challenger-level Surbiton Trophy.
Shapovalov outaced de Minaur 7-0 in Wednesday’s match at Andy Murray Arena and had 16 winners to his opponent’s nine. But he also hit into nine double-faults and was broken five times on 11 chances.
De Minaur, ranked No. 6 in the world, saved three of four break points and made 11 unforced errors, compared to 29 committed by Shapovalov.
Shapovalov has dropped six of his last seven singles matches and has a 9-13 record this year.
De Minaur, who defeated Montreal’s Gabriel Diallo in the first round, will next face Brandon Nakashima of the United States.
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