Rinderknech defeats Auger-Aliassime to reach first Masters 1000 semi-final in Shanghai
Arthur Rinderknech defeated Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-4 on Friday night and will play the winner of the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 16 seed, and Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 7 seed, in the next round
Arthur Rinderknech, Beijing 2025 – © Imago / Psnewz
Arthur Rinderknech recorded one of the greatest victories of his career on Friday by defeating 12th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters, with a score of 6-3, 6-4. This win allows the Frenchman to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal for the first time. In doing so, he follows in the footsteps of his cousin Valentin Vacherot, who defeated Holger Rune on Thursday.
“This is huge. First of all, I followed my cousin,” Rinderknech said. “He went through a lot of emotions on Thursday, and I’m trying to follow his example, fight, and do like him. It’s been incredible since the start of the tournament.”
“The whole family is watching from home. We’re in our own little world here. It’s amazing, and today I played really well. I’m happy it was in two sets, so I won’t be too tired for tomorrow.”
In the first set, Rinderknech set the pace from the start and converted his first break point at 3-2 with a winning forehand passing shot. Very solid on serve throughout the match, winning 85% of his service points, he left little opportunity for his opponent.
Medvedev or De Minaur for Rinderknech
Broken at the start of the second set, Felix Auger-Aliassime still had three break-back chances at 1-2 but could not convert them. The Canadian then failed to trouble the Frenchman, who remained very solid in the crucial moments of the match.
Two players ranked outside the world’s top 50 (Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot) reached the semifinals in Shanghai for the first time, marking the first time this has happened at a hard-court Masters 1000 event since Paris in 2017.
Rinderknech, ranked No 54, will play the winner of the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev, the No 16 seed, and Australian Alex De Minaur, the No 7 seed, next.
The Frenchman beat Czech Jiri Lehecka, the No 15 seed (6-3, 7-6 (5)), German Alexander Zverev, the No 3 seed (4-6, 6-3, 6-2), American Alex Michelsen, the No 28 seed (6-3, 6-4) and Serb Hamad Medjedovic (6-7 (3), 1-0 ret.) ahead of his victory.
In the previous rounds of the Shanghai tournament, Auger-Aliassime, ranked No 13, won against Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the No 8 seed (6-4, 6-2), Dutchman Jesper De Jong (6-4, 7-5) and Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo (6-3, 6-3).
Shanghai Masters 1000, other last eight results (Qi Zhong Tennis Center, hard, USD 9.193.538, most recent results first):
- Daniil Medvedev vs. Alex De Minaur
- Novak Djokovic (4) beat Zizou Bergs: 6-3, 7-5
- Valentin Vacherot (Q) beat Holger Rune (10): 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
