Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the European Open quarterfinals on Thursday with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur.
Second-seeded Auger-Aliassime defeated Zumhur 22-0 in Brussels, breaking serve 14 times in the match.
But Zumhur defended 13 break opportunities and squandered the two he had in one game, leaving little room for error.
Auger-Aliassime had a double break point in the 10th game of the third set, which would have been decisive, but Zumhur eventually withstood three match points to hold on and tie the score at 5-5.
Zumhur then took a 4-3 lead in the decider before Auger-Aliassime scored four of the next five points.
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime, ranked 13th in the world, will next face the winner of the ATP 250 hard court quarterfinals between Dutch player Botik van der Zandschulp and American qualifier Elliot Spitzri.
This is the second meeting between Auger-Aliassime and Zumhur at the ATP Tour level and the first since 2020, when Auger-Aliassime defeated Zumhur in the first round in Montpellier, France.
