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World No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime admits he won't be taking world No. 163 Roman Safiullin for granted when they meet in the Marseille semifinal. Auger-Aliassime, seeded at No. 3, saw off fifht-seeded Ilya Ivashka 6-3 6-4 to reach the Marseille semifinal.
On the other side, qualifier Safiullin stunned No. 1 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4 to reach his first ATP semifinal Auger-Aliassime and Safiullin have no previous meetings. "Safiullin is a good server. He’s dangerous - he can disturb me on any hit.
It will be difficult for me if he plays like he played vs Stefanos. He will live good moments at some point of his career, this year or later," Auger-Aliassime said of Safiullin, per Tennis Majors.
Safiullin aims to stun Auger-Aliassime
“That’s the best win in all my career, in my first quarter-final on the ATP Tour,” Safiullin said after stunning Tsitsipas.
“I returned well on his first serve – I think he didn’t expect that”. Auger-Aliassime safely progressed into the Marseille semifinal on Friday. Ivashka was the one that started the match better as he broke Auger-Aliassime in the opening game of the match and saved a break point in the second game to take a 2-0 lead.
Auger-Aliassime quickly recovered from a slow start to the match as he broke Ivashka in the fourth game of the match to level the match at two games apiece. Auger-Aliassime also broke Ivashka in the fourth game to win four games in a row and take a 4-2 lead.
Auger-Aliassime served out the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead but failed to served out his first set point in the eighth game. However, failing to convert a set point in the eighth game didn't impact Auger-Aliassime as he served out for the opener in the ninth game.
After winning the first set, Auger-Aliassime broke Ivashka in the third and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. Ivashka got one break back in the sixth game but Auger-Aliassime served out for the match in the 10th game.