Auger-Aliassime to face Alcaraz in semifinal after beating Zverev
Félix Auger-Aliassime defeated Alexander Zverev (6-4, 7-6) in the virtual quarterfinal between the two players on Friday in the Björn Borg group. FFA will take on Alcaraz in the semifinal on Saturday.
Félix Auger-Aliassime, ATP Finals 2025 | © Ch. Caillaud / PsNewz
Auger-Aliassime continues to build his reputation as a strong indoor player and is arguably the clear leader of the pack behind Jannik Sinner. The Canadian, who is having by far the best half-season of his career, closed out his round-robin phase at the ATP Finals by defeating Zverev and securing his first final at this level.
He will face Carlos Alcaraz on Saturday at 2:30 pm. Auger-Aliassime and Alex De Minaur are the only two players this season to have faced both Alcaraz and Sinner in the same competition. That alone, and knowing they clearly don’t intend to settle, deserves credit for taking risks.
Zverev will regret having put Auger-Aliassime on track with a very poor service game at 5-4 in the first set. Until then, the German had appeared solid on his serve, opportunistic on return, and was the virtual leader without a break in this tense and unspectacular match.
Struggling with his first serve and as passive as he can suddenly become when the pressure catches up, Zverev gave Auger-Aliassime three set points at 0-40, but the Canadian finally closed out the set on his fourth attempt. The balance of power on serve then subtly shifted. Zverev ultimately paid the price for his vulnerability on the second serve (winning only 44% of those points) and Auger-Aliassime’s efficiency on his own serve, saving all four break points he faced.
An hour later, the Canadian needed just one match point (winning the tiebreak 7-4) to secure his spot and claim a career-high ranking: world No. 5.
