Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime has work to do if he wants to secure a spot at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, Italy for the first time in three years.
But results on Friday at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels certainly helped.
The world No. 13, seeded No. 2, was a 6-2, 7-6(6) winner over American Eliott Spizziri in the quarterfinals, putting him not just into his ninth semifinal of the season, but up to No. 9 in the race to the year-end championships.
He leapfrogged the inactive Jack Draper, who ended his season early after the US Open due to injury.
Eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti is currently 480 points ahead of Auger-Aliassime, and after the Italian was upset by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in the last eight, Auger-Aliassime can close that gap to 330 points with the title. The 2022 champion when the event was held in Antwerp, Auger-Aliassime can first gain another 65 points on the Italian if he beats Belgian wildcard Raphael Collignon in Saturday’s semifinals.
The 25-year-old is bidding for his first appearance at the ATP Finals since 2022, when he reached his career-best ranking of No. 6. He is the second player to reach nine semifinals this season, alongside world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, and is the fourth man to earn 30 hard-court match wins.
His haul has included title runs in Adelaide and Montpellier, a semifinal appearance at the US Open, and two Masters 1000 quarterfinals in Cincinnati and Shanghai.