Canada's Auger-Aliassime suffers shocking defeat to world No. 205 Van Rijthoven in Libema Open semifinals
Dutchman will face top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in Sunday's final
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Libema Open grass-court tennis tournament after being upset in the semifinals by Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands on Saturday.
Van Rijthoven, ranked 196 places lower than world No. 9 Auger-Aliassime in the ATP rankings, denied the Canadian a chance to play for his second Tour win with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5) victory.
The Dutch player broke Auger-Aliassime in the sixth game of the first set to take a 4-2 lead. He held serve the rest of the way, winning on his first set-point chance.
Auger-Aliassime, seeded second at the tournament, responded with a dominant performance in the second set. He converted two early breaks to take a 5-1 lead, then tied the match at one set apiece by converting his first set point.
WATCH l Auger-Aliassime upset by Van Rijthoven:
Van Rijthoven and Auger-Aliassime held serve throughout the third set, resulting in a tiebreak. Van Rijthoven won three straight points to take a 6-3 lead and set up match point. Auger-Aliassime won the next two points on serve to cut into the lead before his Dutch opponent put the match away.
Auger-Aliassime converted two of his three break-point chances.
Van Rijthoven will face top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in Sunday's final. Medvedev defeated France's Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-5 in the other semifinal later on Saturday.
