#NextGenATP Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will have another shot at Serbian Laslo Djere. The two Rio Open presented by Claro finalists will meet again on Friday in the quarter-finals of the Brasil Open in Sao Paulo.
Auger-Aliassime reached the last eight with a gritty 7-6(2), 7-6(5) win against 2017 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain. Auger-Aliassime hit 16 aces and won 85 per cent of his first-serve points.
One week after he reached his first ATP Tour semi-final, the 18-year-old has an opportunity to make back-to-back semi-finals. But the teenager insisted that he isn’t looking ahead.
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“I’ve won two matches now. I’m not even halfway through the tournament, it’s still very tough, very good players in the draw still,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I don’t want to get too far ahead thinking about the future.
“In terms of the season, I think I’ve done a good job already. It’s about keeping going and being consistent week after week, and my ranking is going to go high if I’m consistent.”
Auger-Aliassime is playing at a career-high ATP Ranking of No. 60 and is projected to crack the Top 50 if he wins his maiden title at the ATP 250 in Sao Paulo.
Djere celebrated his first ATP Tour title on Sunday by beating Auger-Aliassime. Both players were competing in their maiden final.
The Serbian advanced to the last eight in Sao Paulo by upsetting second seed Malek Jaziri of Tunisia 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(2). The match was as even as the scoreline suggests: Djere won only one more point than Jaziri (102-101).
“[My confidence] is at the highest possible level. I’m playing good tennis, so I will just keep pushing and trying to give each and every match my best,” Djere said.
#NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud beat Portugal’s Joao Sousa for the second consecutive week. Ruud knocked out the top seed 6-3, 6-4 to make his second consecutive quarter-final (Rio, Sao Paulo).
“I started very well and just kept on playing very good,” said Ruud, who’s only ATP Tour semi-final came two years ago in Rio.
He will next face Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien, who beat Cordoba Open champion Juan Ignacio Londero of Argentina 6-4, 7-6(3). Last week, Dellien qualified in Rio and became the first Bolivian to reach an ATP Tour quarter-final since Mario Martinez in 1983 (Washington SF).
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