Auger-Aliassime defeats de Minaur to reach US Open semifinals

Felix Auger-Aliassime rallied from a set down to beat Alex de Minaur in four gripping sets at the US Open on Wednesday, reaching the semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time since 2021. The 25-year-old Canadian, seeded 25th and ranked 27th, won 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, 7-6 in a match that lasted four hours and 10 minutes and featured slippery nerves, long rallies and a flurry of errors from both players.

Auger-Aliassime turned the match after surviving a marathon second set that lasted 87 minutes, the longest of the men’s tournament, and saving a set point in the tiebreak. He then edged the third set and, after de Minaur failed to serve out the fourth set at 5-3, prevailed in a tense fourth-set tiebreak when a powerful forehand forced a long reply from the Australian on match point. The victory capped a run in New York that has included earlier wins over third seed Alexander Zverev and Andrey Rublev.

"It was a tense one, not always pretty," Auger-Aliassime said in his on-court interview. "There were nerves from both of us all the way through. The biggest challenges are yet to come, but that’s what I live for and I’ll be ready for my match on Friday."