Tennis

Auger-Aliassime stymied by Medvedev yet again in Qatar Open semis

Few obstacles have proven insurmountable to Felix Auger-Aliassime in his young tennis career, but Daniil Medvedev has so far been one of them.

Russian improves to 6-0 against Canadian, to face Andy Murray in Saturday's final

A tennis player in a blue shirt lunges as he attempts to hit the ball with his racquet at the net.
Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime, seen above earlier in February, fell in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals of the Qatar Open on Friday. (Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Few obstacles have proven insurmountable to Felix Auger-Aliassime in his young tennis career, but Daniil Medvedev has so far been one of them.

The former world No. 1 from Russia downed Montreal's Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 7-6 (7) in semifinal action Friday at the Qatar Open ATP 250 hard-court tournament.

Medvedev improved his record against Auger-Aliassime to 6-0 with his second victory over the Canadian in as many weeks.

Auger-Aliassime, who came into the tournament ranked No. 9 in the world, had his chances in the match.

WATCH | Auger-Aliassime ousted by Medvedev:

Auger-Aliassime hits shots of the match but falls to Medvedev in Doha

2 years ago
Duration 2:02
The Canadian made a few highlight-reel plays, but Daniil Medvedev continued his dominance, improving to 6-0 against Auger-Aliassime.

After Medvedev scored the first break of the match to go up 5-4 in the first set, Auger-Aliassime responded by taking a 40-15 lead in Game 10. But Medvedev forced Auger-Aliassime into an error and then won a 13-shot rally to erase the break point en route to holding for the set.

Medvedev converted an early break to go up 2-1 in the second set, but a break by Auger-Aliassime tied the set at 3. Both players held the rest of the way to set up the tiebreak.

Auger-Aliassime had two set-point opportunities in the tiebreaker, but Medvedev saved them both before winning the match by converting his first set point on return.

Medvedev also won a matchup between the two in the quarterfinals at last week's Rotterdam Open, denying Auger-Aliassime his first chance to defend an ATP Tour title.

The Russian will face Andy Murray in Saturday's final. The British veteran advanced with a 6-0, 3-6, 7-6 (6) win over Czechia's Jiri Lehecka.

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