FAA books Turin semi as he bosses Zverev

Felix Auger-Aliassime became the first Canadian into a semis at the ATP Finals in nearly a decade as he overcame a sluggish Alexander Zverev 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Friday in Turin.

The player is the first from his country since Milos Raonic in 2016 to get this far at the season wrapup.

Two-time year-end champion Zverev played well off his best in a concluding group match which stretched to more than an hour per set.

FAA, winner of more than 30 tiebreak sets this season, added another as he moved into a Saturday night clash for a spot in the Italian final against world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

The North American fired 11 aces among his 24 winners, with Germany’s third-ranked Zverev struggling throughout the match. It ended as he sent a forehand return long over the baseline.

FAA earned a 50th match win of the season.

“This is a high-value tournament for players,” the winner said.

““It’s like a grand finale and when you have a look at the list of champs there have been many No. 1s. 

“You want to be in the final but I’ll have to go through a great player to do that. I will take my chance if I have it.”

The Canadian said that after winning the opening set  after a 58-minute struggle, mistakes from earlier can often come back to haunt.

“He had a few chances in the first set and I was able to serve to save them. I adjusted on return and made him miss a few serves.

“I played very solid but in the second set you can remember your missed opportunities when the match gets tense.

“The tiebreaker was a fight until the end. I played two solid points to win it.

The Canadian stands 3-4 against Alcaraz, with the Spaniard winning their last four; they last played in the Paris Olympic semi-final last year.