Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime defeats France’s Richard Gasquet 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3) to reach European Open final in Antwerp

Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime has reached his second consecutive ATP tennis final after defeating France’s Richard Gasquet 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3) in the semi-finals of the European Open in Antwerp.

Auger-Aliassime did not create a break point in the semi-final but dominated two tie-breaks.

In a match that took just under two hours, neither Auger-Aliassime nor Gasquet saw a break point until the Frenchman earned a look in the second set at 5-5.

The 22-year-old Canadian, though, was able to keep Gasquet at bay and then take the second tie-break to victory.

Despite Gasquet’s experience, Auger-Aliassime looked comfortable and calm throughout the match and never found himself on the back foot.

He served with confidence throughout and will now seek to win the third tour-level trophy of both the 2022 season and his career on Sunday, following victories in Rotterdam against Stefanos Tsitsipas and in Florence against J. J. Wolf.

“If I didn’t serve the way I did, it would have been really tough to win. My serve helped me tremendously to get through my service games easily and then, after, giving myself chances.

“But he was playing really good. He’s still playing so well after so many years on the Tour. All credit to him for pushing… He’s been a great leader in our sport and a great example,” said Auger-Aliassime about Gasquet.

The second-seeded Auger-Aliassime will face off against American Sebastian Korda in the final. Korda defeated Dominic Thiem of Austria in Saturday’s other semifinal.