Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasts De Minaur in four-hour battle, advances to US Open semifinals

Felix Auger-Aliassime has secured his spot in the US Open semifinals for the second time in his career, after defeating Australia's Alex De Minaur in four sets, 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(5). It was a battle of more than four hours that ended in favor of the Canadian.

The 25-year-old player had not delivered great results in Grand Slams in recent years. In fact, in his last 10 appearances, he didn't get past the second round in eight of them and hadn't reached a major quarterfinal since the 2022 Australian Open. He has guaranteed he will reach world No. 12, his best ranking in over three years.

Auger-Aliassime's US Open campaign has been particularly notable for his serve, and he showed it from the start. It was an open match for both players, who began by showing strength on their serves to maintain parity for several games, reaching 3-3 with no break opportunities for either.

It was then that the Canadian showed his first doubts on serve and gave up a couple of break opportunities to his opponent, allowing De Minaur to get the first break and take the lead. In the next game, Auger-Aliassime had a couple of break opportunities but couldn't convert. There was no more time, as De Minaur ended up holding his serve and taking the set 6-4.

Both players had their opportunities in the second set, where De Minaur was hampered by a poor 47% first-serve rate, well below his opponent's 63%. Neither player was holding their service games with too much ease. De Minaur got the break in the fifth game, and Auger-Aliassime responded with a break in the next. Everything extended to a tiebreak in a long set, where both had set point chances. However, it was the Canadian who ended up taking the set 7-6(9-7) after 88 minutes—even longer than it took Jannik Sinner to defeat Alexander Bublik in the fourth round.

It was a duel of nerves, in which Auger-Aliassime took the lead in the fifth game, taking his first break point of the set. In the next game, De Minaur had chances but couldn't capitalize on his two opportunities, showing again that the Canadian was the one playing better in the important moments. Felix served at 5-4 to close the set, but De Minaur responded with a break at the most important moment. It was of little use, as Auger-Aliassime found his form again in the final part to take the set 7-5.

More than three hours had passed with only three sets played, showing that neither player wanted to give up opportunities. De Minaur came out looking for the set and looked better at the start of the fourth, taking a lead up to 4-1, holding his service games with power and without his opponent being able to put the ball in play much.

However, the tension was felt on the Australian's side, who had the opportunity to serve to close the set at 5-3, but Auger-Aliassime recovered the break and managed to tie it up. Everything was decided in a tension-filled tiebreak: seven of the first eight points played were mini-breaks, with Auger-Aliassime being the first to defend a service point. A double fault from De Minaur ended up giving him the decisive mini-break that gave Auger-Aliassime the advantage, who ended up sealing the victory 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4) to return to the US Open semifinals for the second time in his career, four years after his last appearance.