Auger-Aliassime Wins Gritty US Open Quarterfinal Over De Minaur

Felix Auger-Aliassime
Felix Auger-Aliassime (photo: Jürgen Hasenkopf)

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, September 4, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

World No. 8 Alex de Minaur of Australia has been a six-time Grand Slam quarterfinalist – a consistent performer on major stages – but he’s never been able to punch his semifinal ticket at a major. For a set and a portion of a second one against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at the US Open on Wednesday afternoon, it looked like he might break the curse. 

After four hours and 10 minutes, it wasn’t meant to be for the Sydneysider, who had hoped to become the first Australian US Open semifinalist since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005 – 20 years ago.

As Day 11 of the US Open unfolded on another sunny, 77-degree (Fahrenheit, 25º Celsius) day in Flushing Meadows, the Aussie No. 1 de Minaur, who is known for giving it his all on the court – 100 percent and more – faced the resurgent 25th seed Auger-Aliassime from Canada, who came into the last eight contest riding high after consecutive Top-20 victories over No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany and No. 15 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia. 

Now, after defeating the eighth-seeded de Minaur, 4-6, 7-6 (7), 7-5, 7-6 (4), the Canadian No. 1 Auger-Aliassime has reached his second US Open semifinal – four years after his last four run in 2021 – and it’s his eighth semifinal of the 2025 season. It’s the first time he’s beaten three seeded players in a single major.

Upon winning an 88-minute marathon second set which required a tie-break (9-7) to decide the outcome, after losing the opening set, Auger-Aliassime garnered the next set backed by his 19th ace to push ahead. It gave him some welcome momentum going into the fourth set, needing to win only one more set to prevail in the grueling quarterfinal grueling match. But the last-eight tussle was far from being over.

Unlike many players, both Auger-Aliassime (now 34-18 after the victory) and de Minaur (41-16) took care of business on the court. There wasn’t a need by either player to look to their box after each point or to fist pump following every point they won. After de Minaur went ahead 5-2 with a love hold in the fourth set, Auger-Aliassime reset himself, went to work and turned things around. He won four of the next five games to force another tiebreaker.

Next, Auger-Aliassime quickly went ahead 4-2 in the tie-break after de Minaur continued to struggle getting his first serve into play. Then, he put away the 59-minute finale after de Minaur hit an errant return to quash one last four-shot rally. It was game, set and match for the Canadian. The two shared a cordial handshake at the net before going their separate ways.

Looking back, the battle among combatants from these two British Commonwealth countries was gritty and not always pretty, but Auger-Aliassime battled and weathered the storm against de Minaur – and, ultimately, reaped the reward of victory.

“It was just a lot of nerves today during the whole match, it wasn’t pretty at all times, but that’s what Grand Slam matches are,” Auger-Aliassime said during his on-court interview after winning his 13th career tie-break at the US Open. “Somedays you won’t feel your best but I was willing to dig deep and do everything I can to stand here right now.

“It feels amazing. Four years ago … It feels like more. It was a tough couple of years but it feels great to be back in the semifinals. It’s been an amazing tournament so far. It’s not over, there’s some tennis to play and the biggest challenges are yet to come, but that’s what I live for. That’s what I train for.

Although Auger-Aliassime only placed 64 percent of his first serves in play, he managed to win 82 percent (78 of 95) of his first-serve points. De Minaur fared worse on his serve, placing only 42 percent of his first serves into action. He won 77 percent (53 of 69) of his first-serve points. 

Meanwhile, the 25-year-old Montreal native, a winner of two ATP Tour hard-court titles earlier this season at Adelaide and Montpellier, struck 51 total winners – including 22 aces – but also made 50 unforced errors. It compared to 29 winners and 43 unforced errors by de Minaur, who came into the match leading the ATP Tour in hard-court wins this season (28). Auger-Aliassime converted four of nine break points and his serve was broken four times. Auger-Aliassime came out on top in total points 158-153 in wrapping up his third straight Top-20 victory of the New York fortnight.

“Right now I’m looking at this like a wasted opportunity,” de Minaur said during his post-match news conference. He let slip a 6-5 lead in the second-set tie-break that would have given him a two sets-to-none lead. “It’s tough.”

In Friday’s semifinals, Auger-Aliassime will face defending US Open champion and current World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who beat World No. 10 Lorenzo Musetti, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, in two hours on Arthur Ashe Stadium, in the first all-Italian men’s major quarterfinal in history.

Against Musetti, Sinner was on another level as he defeated him for the third straight time in three career meetings. Sinner won 91 percent (42 of 46) of his first-serve points, controlled the net by winning 17 of 20 exchanges, hit 28 winners – of which 10 were aces – and converted five of six break points. He outpointed his friend 85-56 to wrap up his 36th victory in 40 matches this season. Musetti (30-13 this year) was able to muster just 12 winners and committed 22 unforced errors. He was 0-for-7 on break-point opportunities.

At the end of the night, Sinner was safely through to his fifth straight major semifinal. Should he defeat Auger-Aliassime on Friday, he would reach the finals of all four Grand Slams this year. His winning streak on hard courts in majors is 26 and counting, which includes two consecutive Australian Open crowns plus his title success at last year’s US Open.

“These are very special occasions,” Sinner said. “Finding myself again in the semis of a Grand Slam, it’s a great, great achievement.”

Musetti, who fell behind 0-5 in the opening set in his attempt to reach his third major semifinal, took his loss in stride. “I never played, honestly, someone who put me on this kind of rush in the rally, and I didn’t have many chances on the rally and he was always leading the rally,” he said. “So that was kind of a bad feeling.”

Sinner summed up the evening this way: “We know each other very well. We are from the same country. We have so many Italian players every time in the draw. I know here, there are many Italians, so it’s nice to play here. Obviously playing Davis Cup together and stuff like this, we have to take the friendship away for the match and then obviously when we shake hands, everything is fine.”

Anisimova gains redemption against Swiatek 

Earlier this summer, Iga Swiatek scored a double-bagel, 6-0, 6-0, victory over Amanda Anisimova – a one-sided major final triumph if there ever was one – that rewarded the Polish star with her first Wimbledon title and sixth major crown overall. Since then, the American has bounced back nicely by earning a career-high ranking of No. 8 while garnered a lot of buzz during the first four rounds at the US Open.

Anisimova won four straight matches – dropping just one set – and reached the quarterfinals at Flushing Meadows for the first time in her sixth overall appearance and third major semifinal overall.

On Wednesday afternoon, Anisimova earned her rematch against the World No. 2 Swiatek, who had won 10 straight matches and arrived at the US Open after capturing the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open championship.

Guess what? Anisimova earned her revenge! She beat her Wimbledon nemesis, 6-4, 6-3, with equal parts power and poise – and in an efficient one hour and 36 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium for her fifth straight win in New York. It was her 14th career victory over a Top-20 opponent.

What a turn-around it’s been for Anisimova after losing the Wimbledon final on Centre Court to Swiatek less than two months ago – a 57-minute title match – in which she accumulated a mere 24 points.

“To come back from Wimbledon like that is really special to me,” the 24-year-old New Jersey-born and Florida-bred Anisimova said during her on-court interview after beating the former World No. 1 Swiatek for the first time. “I feel like I worked so hard to try and turn around from that. … Today is really special.”

Anisimova finished with 23 winners to just 12 unforced errors, compared to 13 winners and 15 unforced errors by Swiatek. She won 71 percent (24 of 34) of her first-serve points, converted four of nine break points and outpointed Swiatek 67-54. Although she trailed at the start of both sets, after being broken in the opening game of the quarterfinal match and then trailing 2-0 in the second set, Anisimova regrouped both times.

“From the get-go, I was trying to fire myself up,” Anisimova said. “She is one of the toughest players I’ve ever played. I knew I was going to have to dig deep.”

After defeating No. 18 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 6-0, 6-3, in the fourth round earlier this week, Anisimova said she looked forward to playing Swiatek, who won the 2022 US Open title. “To be able to have a rematch or to be able to face here again and give myself another chance, I’m really, really happy about that. …. I feel like it’s going to be a really tough challenge, but I feel like I’ve been playing well,” she said.

“I don’t think [the Wimbledon loss] helped [me] become a better player in any way. It wasn’t a good performance by any means. I feel like maybe I learned some things from it and some things I can do differently, but above all, I think it wasn’t just a learning experience. 

“I’ve worked through it, and the hard-court season started off strong for me. So year, I feel like I have moved on from that at this point.”

Anisimova won three of the five matches she played in Montreal and Cincinnati in warming up for the US Open and had a quality win over 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu of Great Britain during the WTA 1000 event in Canada.

“Playing here is so freaking special,” Anisimova said, “and I’ve been having the run of my life here.”

Now, Anisimova is one win away from reaching back-to-back major finals. She will play four-time major champion Naomi Osaka of Japan, who has won the US Open twice (2018, 2020), in the semifinal round Thursday night. It will be Osaka’s first US Open semifinal appearance since 2020 – and her fifth major semifinal appearance overall.

On Wednesday evening, the 23rd-seeded Osaka defeated No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia, who has been a US Open semifinalist in each of the past two years, 6-4, 7-6 (3), in one hour and 49 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The victory improved Osaka’s career win-loss record in Grand Slam quarterfinals to 13-0. Each time she’s made a deep run at a major, she’s gone on to win the title.

Osaka hit 30 winners – including five aces – and won 75 percent (38 of 51) of her first-serve points. She converted three of four break points and saved five of seven she faced from Muchova. Osaka outpointed her opponent 71-64.

The Japanese superstar’s four Grand Slam crowns have come in groups of two. In 2018, she won her first US Open title, then followed it by winning the 2019 Australian Open. She followed the same pattern by winning the US Open in 2020 and, then won her second Australian Open title in 2021.

During her on-court interview, Osaka was asked to explain her success in the latter stages of a major. She said: “I can’t really answer … it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. You play the best players in the world towards the end of a slam. We’re all hoping to achieve the same thing. It’s kind of like boxing, but with a tennis ball.”

Osaka was asked what it means to be back at the level of competing for Grand Slam titles. Without hesitating, she said: “It means so much. I’m actually surprised I’m not crying. there’s been so much work you guys haven’t seen. I’m really grateful to my team and happy to be healthy.”

Venus Williams’s Cinderella doubles run ends

When No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States defeated Venus Williams and Leylah Fernandez, 6-1, 6-2, in 56 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium Tuesday afternoon, it ended the 45-year-old Williams’s US Open. She had appeared in singles, doubles and mixed doubles over the past two weeks and appeared before large crowds everywhere she played on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

Although Williams, an American living legend who has won seven major singles titles and 14 major doubles crowns, lost in the opening round of mixed doubles and singles, she fared best in doubles, paired with the 22-year-old Fernandez of Canada. They received a wild card into the 32-team draw and immediately started to win – drawing plenty of applause from fans and attention from the media.

After advancing through three straight rounds without losing a set – and knocking of the sixth and 12th-seeded teams along the way – Williams and Fernandez met their match in Siniakova and Townsend, who won the 2024 Wimbledon title and earlier this year lifted the trophy at the Australian Open. Williams was all smiles when it ended – smiling to the crowd, to her opponents – she shared a hug with Townsend – and walked off the court to a standing ovation.

“What I’m proudest of is it’s not easy to come off the bench. It really isn’t, and I have never had a layoff that long. It brought new challenges that I wasn’t ready for in so many ways,” Williams said during her post-match news conference. “So I’m very proud that I … stayed myself. I didn’t try to play another game. I didn’t try to play it safe. I went for it, and that’s who I am. I go for it. When you go for it, good things happen.

“Perhaps I didn’t get there this time, but I know who I am, and I know that I can work once I have a little chance.”

Williams, who played warm-up tournaments in Washington, D.C., and Cincinnati earlier this summer before coming to New York City, left the door open to returning in the future. Her sister Serena retired following the 2022 US Open, after winning 23 major singles titles.

“Seeing Venus playing on court for joy just kind of brought me back as to why I started playing tennis,” Fernandez, the 2021 singles finalist, said.

At the US Open

The women’s doubles final is set and it will pair No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova of Czechia and Taylor Townsend of the United States against the No. 3 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand.

Siniakova and Townsend, who have won two major titles together, defeated No. 4 seeds Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Elise Mertens of Belgium, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to advance. Meanwhile, Dabrowksi and Routliffe upset No. 2 seeds and reigning Olympic champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 6-4, 6-3.

Wednesday’s US Open results

Thursday’s US Open order of play

By the numbers

With Novak Djokovic‘s four-set quarterfinal victory over Taylor Fritz Tuesday night, it advanced the 24-time major champion into his 53rd Grand Slam semifinal. After Djokovic, the rest of the Top 5 Grand Slam semifinal leaders includes: Roger Federer (46), Rafael Nadal (38), Jimmy Connors (31) and Ivan Lendl (28).

“Quotable …”

“Growing up watching Venus and [her sister] Serena, for me and my sister, it was an inspiration. It was an honor to share the court today.”

– Doubles No. 1 Taylor Townsend of the United States, who along with Katerina Siniakova of Czechia put an end to Venus Williams’s first Grand Slam tournament in two years on Tuesday afternoon. The top-seeded Townsend and Siniakova defeated Williams and Leylah Fernandez of Canada, 6-1, 6-2, in 56 minutes to win their quarterfinal-round match on Louis Armstrong Stadium. During their on-court interview, Siniakova called Williams “a legend” and said it was “a privilege” to play against her.

 

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