Auger-Aliassime stuns Casper Ruud, eyes Olympic glory against Alcaraz

Felix Auger-Aliassime (No. 19) defeated Casper Ruud (No. 9) and is now in contention for a medal at the Olympic Games. The quarter-final match favored the Canadian, who beat Ruud on clay for the second time, leveling their head-to-head record at 3-3. In the semi-finals, he will face second seed Carlos Alcaraz.

The 2024 Madrid Open champion once again showcased his skill on clay, using a strong serve to impose his game and giving Ruud little rhythm from the baseline. Auger-Aliassime now moves on to the semi-finals and will seek to win a medal for Canada.

Ruud seemed slightly favored considering the clay court setting and Roland Garros, where the Norwegian reached the French Open final twice. However, Auger-Aliassime always appears inspired when playing for his country and was not going to make it easy for his opponent. Ruud started off slightly superior, creating break opportunities but failing to convert them due to Auger-Aliassime's strong serves.

Midway through the first set, the Canadian, former World No. 6, had up to five break points in his favor and finally secured the break after a long game. The Canadian clung to his serve, winning 88% of the points on his first serve, compared to Ruud's 71%. The break advantage was enough for the Canadian, who ended up closing the set 6-4.

In the second part, Felix's dominance was more evident, as he secured a break early on and advanced to 2-0 within minutes. In the 6th game, Ruud surprised by recovering the break, taking advantage of Auger-Aliassime's struggles with his first serve.

It all came down to the tie-break, where the Canadian led 3-0 and later had a mini-break advantage at 5-4. He committed a double fault at that moment, which proved costly, later wasting a match point and eventually losing to a resilient Ruud, who won the set 7-6(8) and sent the match to a third set.

In the third set, Auger-Aliassime regained control of the match, and an early break put him ahead 3-0. The Canadian faced no major difficulties, conceding only three points on his serve and not needing any additional breaks. In total, the Canadian hit 12 aces in the match and committed four double faults, compared to Ruud's seven aces and one double fault.

After more than two hours and 45 minutes, the match favored Felix 6-4, 6-7(8), 6-3, advancing him to the semi-finals of Paris 2024. In pursuit of a spot in the final, he will face four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, who recently defeated Tommy Paul in straight sets and has won 19 of his last 20 matches.