Quebecer Félix Auger-Aliassime never gave up, but he still lost 6-3, 2-6 and 7-6 (6) to Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut in the quarter-finals of the tournament Antwerp, Friday in Belgium.
Auger-Aliassime (21e) placed himself in a dangerous position by being broken during the eighth game of the decisive round. Bautista-Agut (60e) brought the score to 5-3 before taking a 30-0 lead in the next game. The Quebecer, however, won four consecutive points to return to equal service.
In the tiebreaker, Auger-Aliassime erased three match points to tie the game 6-6, but failed to put the final touch.
Earlier, Auger-Aliassime withstood a break point in the last game of the first set to take the lead with his second set point. Trailing 5-2 in the second, he hung on with a 14-point game with balls in hand, but Bautista-Agut had the last word with his second set point.
Auger-Aliassime hit 19 aces and committed five double faults in the loss. He erased seven break points.
It was a sixth duel between “FAA” and Bautista-Agut. The latter won the last two, so they won three games each.
Bautista-Agut will now face the winner of a duel which will pit Australian favorite Alex De Minaur (ninth) against Frenchman Hugo Gaston (77) later on Friday.e).
In Kazakhstan, Quebecer Gabriel Diallo (118e) caused a surprise by eliminating the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (23e) in the quarter-finals of the Almaty tournament.
Diallo, 23, shrugged off a setback in the first set to win 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4 against the second seed of this ATP 250 tournament.
The winner broke his opponent twice in six occasions while resisting three of the four break points he faced. He placed 76% of his first serves in play, hitting six aces, and won 71% of rallies with his serve.
In search of a first career ATP title, Diallo will now face Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo (31st) in the semi-final. This will be a first duel between the two men.
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