Years ago, Felix Auger-Aliassime was one of the best prospects in tennis and was taking the sport by storm as just a young teenager. When he made the semifinals of the US Open in 2021, it was thought to be the first of many for the powerful Canadian sensation.
That hasn't played out over the last few years. Since finishing in the top 10 of the ATP rankings and reaching the ATP Finals at the end of the 2022 season, Auger-Aliassime has fallen from the top of the game and has struggled to find his consistent best form that he had in 2021 and 2022.
However, after a quarterfinal run in Cincinnati just before this 2025 US Open, Auger-Aliassime is looking back to his best once again. On Wednesday, he advanced to the semifinals with a tight four-set win over No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur, 4-6, 7-6(7), 7-5, 7-6(4).
De Minaur was the second top 10 player that Auger-Aliassime has knocked off on his way to the final four, making him just the third player born in the 21st century to beat multiple top 10 opponents in a single Grand Slam, joining Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz according to OptaAce.
“Felix Auger-Aliassime is the third player born since 2000 to claim multiple ATP top 10 wins at a Men's Singles Grand Slam event after Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner,” OptaAce wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Auger-Aliassime also beat No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev in four sets in a big upset in the third round before beating No. 15 seed Andrey Rublev in round four, so he has clearly found his best tennis at the right time. While he didn't play quite as well against de Minaur as he did in his two previous matches, he came up big at the end of the final three sets and was the better player in the clutch moments.
The Canadian's first serve and forehand, two massive weapons that made him such a coveted prospect coming up through the juniors, have both been on fire in this tournament, and now he will be back on Friday in search of his first Grand Slam final.
The No. 25 seed will take on the winner between Sinner, the top seed, and No. 10 seed Lorenzo Musetti. The two Italians are contesting the final quarterfinal of the tournament on Wednesday night.
