Auger-Aliassime suffers shock defeat to van Rijthoven in Libema Open semifinals

'S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands — Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Libema Open grass-court tennis tournament after being upset in the semifinals by Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands on Saturday.

Van Rijthoven, ranked 196 places lower than world No. 9 Auger-Aliassime in the ATP rankings, denied the Canadian a chance to play for his second Tour win with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5) victory.

The Dutch player broke Auger-Aliassime in the sixth game of the first set to take a 4-2 lead. He held serve the rest of the way, winning on his first set-point chance.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded second at the tournament, responded with a dominant performance in the second set. He converted two early breaks to take a 5-1 lead, then tied the match at one set apiece by converting his first set point.

Van Rijthoven and Auger-Aliassime held serve throughout the third set, resulting in a tiebreak. Van Rijthoven won three straight points to take a 6-3 lead and set up match point. Auger-Aliassime won the next two points on serve to cut into the lead before his Dutch opponent put the match away.

Van Rijthoven broke Auger-Aliassime just once in seven chances, but that proved to be enough as he was able to hold serve in the first and third sets.

Auger-Aliassime converted two of his three break-point chances.

Van Rijthoven will face the winner of a semifinal between top seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia and France's Adrian Mannarino in Sunday's final.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2022.