By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 3, 2025
Photograph credit score: Maddie Meyer/Getty
NEW YORK—A jittery tiebreaker teetered towards a fifth set.
Then, Felix Auger-Aliassime drew the road.
Auger-Aliassime lashed a pair of crackling forehands down the road sealing a rollercoaster 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4) comeback conquest of Alex de Minaur preventing his means into his second US Open semifinal.
A 4 hour, 10-minute encounter options some sharp shotmaking—and stretches of nervy play from either side, together with 4 double faults within the first eight factors of the fourth-set tiebreaker—however Auger-Aliassime confirmed its braveness that counts in main showdowns.
“I feel it was simply numerous nerves right this moment the entire match,” Auger-Aliassime stated after reaching his eighth semifinal of the 2025 season. “It wasn’t fairly always, however that’s what Grand Slam matches are, you realize some days you gained’t really feel your finest.
“I used to be keen to dig actually deep and to do all the things I can to face right here proper now.”
The 25-year-old Canadian has toppled three seeds in a row—third-seeded Alexander Zverev, Fifteenth-seeded Andrey Rublev and the eighth-seeded de Mnaur—for the primary time in a Grand Slam to achieve his first main semifinal because the 2021 US Open.
Displaying tiebreak toughness, Auger-Aliassime is 6-0 in breakers at this US Open.
The Twenty fifth-seeded Auger-Aliassime will play the winner of tonight’s historic all-Italian quarterfinal—both world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner or Tenth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti—for a spot in Sunday’s 2 p.m. US Open remaining.
“It’s not over,” Auger-Aliassime stated. “There are nonetheless some matches to play and the most important challenges to come back. That’s what I reside for, that’s what I practice for, so I’m going to indicate up and be prepared for my match on Friday.”
Typically, Auger-Aliassime matches hinge on his first serve and forehand accuracy. Misfiring on these strokes early, Auger-Aliassime sustained self-belief and rode his serve and forehand to victory in a pressure-packed tiebreaker to finish it.
Right this moment, Auger-Aliassime drilled 22 aces and hit 22 extra winners than de Minaur—51 to 29—and was at his finest underneath stress. Auger-Aliassime saved a set level with a 121 mph ace at 5-6 within the second-set tiebreaker and rallied from 2-5 down within the fourth set to defeat de Minaur for the third time in 4 conferences.
Throughout the online, de Minaur have to be gutted falling to 0-6 lifetime in main quarterfinals. De Minaur was bidding to develop into the primary Aussie man to achieve the US Open remaining 4 since his Davis Cup captain, Lleyton Hewitt, in 2005.
Although de Minaur took the court docket with an ATP-best 28 hard-court wins, his first serve let him down right this moment. De Minaur served 42 % and didn’t capitalize on his one-break lead within the second set, his 6-5 set level in that second set or his 5-2 fourth-set lead.
The Demon by no means stopped battling, however credit score Auger-Aliassime for dealing with the foremost jitters a little bit bit higher and enjoying a bit bolder on pivotal factors.
Halfway by way of the opening set, the pair traded love holds. Then, de Minaur made his transfer.
Concentrating on the Canadian’s unruly forehand wing, de Minaur drew three forehand errors for the primary break and a 4-3 lead.
Within the subsequent recreation, de Minaur denied a few break factors—with an inside-out forehand and a flat forehand crosscourt—earlier than prevailing in a 16-shot rally to again up the break for 5-3.
Serving for the set, de Minaur once more focused Auger-Aliassime’s forehand and elicited a wild forehand miss down the road to grab a one-set lead after 48 minutes.
It was a milestone second for the Aussie: de Minaur, who was 0 for 12 in prior main quarterfinal units, gained his very first set in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.
Two areas of concern for Auger-Aliassime: he dedicated 17 errors—seven greater than his opponent, with a number of coming off the forehand—and he gained solely 5 of 13 second-serve factors.
Regardless of serving simply 34 %, de Minaur withstood break-point stress and stood simply two units away from his first profession main semifinal.
Auger-Aliassime saved a pair of break factors to begin the second set. De Minaur answered with an incredible tweener lob from behind the baseline in recreation three that prompted an tried tweener from his opponent in response.
In a draining 22-point recreation, de Minaur saved two break factors holding for 2-all after 13 and a half minutes.
Although the Aussie broke for 3-2, Auger-Aliassime was discovering his forehand and fired that stroke to interrupt again and stage at 3-all.
Pressure escalated within the tiebreaker when de Minaur fought again from a mini-break down for set level at 5-4.
Zapping a 120 mph ace down the T—his 14th ace—Auger-Aliassime erased set level for 6-all. De Minaur saved set level with a physique serve for 7-all solely to see Auger-Aliassime bolt his Fifteenth ace for a second set level. Operating his opponent aspect to aspect, Auger-Aliassime drew a netted backhand to grab an 89-minute second set, the longest set of the boys’s match, to stage the match.
By means of two units, the Auger-Aliassime serve was the most important shot on the court docket. De Minaur was going huge on first serve however lacking many. Dragging a forehand lengthy to face double break level, the Aussie spit up his fifth double fault large ceding the break and a 3-2 third-set result in Auger-Aliassime.
The world No. 9 instantly earned double break level within the subsequent recreation, however Auger-Aliassime stood tall saving each break factors, together with catching the sting of the road.
In a uncommon show of frustration, de Minaur kicked a stray ball into the stands as Auger-Aliassime locked down his hardest maintain of the set, confirming the break for 4-2.
Strain ratcheted severely as Auger-Aliassime served for the third set at 5-4 solely to cough up a few double faults and forehand error as de Minaur broke again. All that good work dissolved as de Minaur double fault to face a break level within the eleventh recreation. Auger-Aliassime create a pointy angle, scary a operating forehand error to attain his third break for 6-5.
Serving for the set once more, the 25-year-old Canadian cranked an ace down the T for double set level. On his second set level, Auger-Aliassime torched his nineteenth ace out large amassing a two-sets to 1 lead after three hours, 11 minutes
De Minaur broke for a 3-1 fourth-set lead extending to 5-2. Serving for the set at 5-3, de Minaur grew passive and fell right into a triple break level maintain. An enormous forehand down the center helped Auger-Aliassime rating the love break for 4-5.
The fourth-set tiebreaker got here right down to which man would maintain their nerve and serve. 4 double faults marked the primary eight factors of the breaker.
At 5-4, Auger-Aliassime confirmed guts hitting behind de Minaur with a crackling inside-in forehand for match level at 6-4.
The Canadian cranked one remaining forehand down the alternative sideline ending a 4 hour, 10-minute marathon.
