Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime faced elimination from the Shanghai Masters following a 6-3, 6-4 defeat against France’s Arthur Rinderknech during the quarterfinals on Friday. Auger-Aliassime, seeded 12th, served eight aces but also committed three double faults, all occurring in the initial set.
Rinderknech, ranked 54th globally, dominated by winning 83% of points on his first serve, surpassing Auger-Aliassime’s 64%. The French player managed to break Auger-Aliassime’s serve once in each set and successfully defended all three break points against him. Notably, this marked Rinderknech’s third consecutive victory over a top-20 player in Shanghai, with the match lasting one hour and 28 minutes.
Meanwhile, Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., and her Chinese partner, Yue Yuan, were eliminated in the women’s doubles quarterfinals at the Wuhan Open in China, suffering a 6-4, 7-6 (1) defeat to Aleksandra Krunic and Anna Danilina. The upcoming semifinal at the Shanghai Masters will feature Novak Djokovic of Serbia against Valentin Vacherot of Monaco.
In another event, Aryna Sabalenka continued her impressive run at Wuhan by securing her 20th consecutive victory at the tournament with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over the eighth-seeded Elena Rybakina. The U.S. Open champion, who clinched the Wuhan Open title in 2018, 2019, and last year, broke Rybakina’s serve three times during the 1-hour, 25-minute match, advancing to the semis for the 11th time this season. Sabalenka is set to face Jessica Pegula in the next round, with Pegula recently overcoming Katerina Siniakova in a challenging encounter. Additionally, the quarterfinals at Wuhan feature Iga Swiatek against Jasmine Paolini and Coco Gauff against Laura Siegemund.