Auger-Aliassime outlasts Norrie to reach quarter-finals at Vienna Open
Canadian takes 3 sets, thrilling comeback to defeat Indian Wells champion
Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the quarter-finals at the Vienna Open after battling through three sets to defeat Great Britain's Cameron Norrie on Thursday.
The 21-year-old from Montreal bounced the 2021 Indian Wells champion in a taxing 2-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory.
Norrie blazed ahead to take the first set, but was met with feisty competition in the second. Though Auger-Aliassime was down 3-6 in the tiebreak, he fought back and saved three match points before storming ahead to take both the second and third sets.
He'll next face second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany in the quarter-finals.
Zverev defeated Alex De Minaur 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 for the German's 300th career win.
"This is definitely a massive milestone for me," he said.
The Canadian also reached the quarter-finals of the doubles tournament with German partner Andreas Mies. But the duo of Great Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram — the 2021 U.S. Open champions — defeated them 6-3, 6-7(7), 10-6.
WATCH | Auger-Aliassime defeats Norrie in Austria:
Meanwhile, American qualifier Frances Tiafoe rallied to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas for his second win in four months over the top-seeded Greek.
Tiafoe upset Tsitsipas in straight sets in the opening round at Wimbledon in June, but failed to win a set when the pair met again at the Tokyo Olympics the following month.
However, the 49th-ranked American proved his triumph at the All England Club was no fluke, as he battled back from 3-0 down in the final set to win six of the next seven games.
Thursday's win was Tiafoe's first in seven matches against a top-three player, as Tsitsipas reached his career-high No. 3 ranking in August.
The result denied Tsitsipas a tour-leading 15th quarter-final of the season.
In his fourth quarter-final of the year, Tiafoe will take on Diego Schwartzman, who outlasted Gael Monfils 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2.
With files from the Associated Press
