Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced to the semifinals of the European Open tennis tournament with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) win over American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri on Friday in Brussels, Belgium.
Auger-Aliassime clinched the second-set tiebreaker with his 11th ace of the match.
The second-seeded Canadian cruised through the first set, breaking Spizzirri's serve twice while not facing break point himself.
Spizzirri proved a much tougher opponent in the second set and had two set points in Game 12 before Auger-Aliassime completed the hold with an ace and tied the frame 6-6.
The American then led the tiebreak 5-3, but Auger-Aliassime won four of the next five points.
The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who entered the ATP 250 tournament ranked 13th in the world, will face either fourth seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain or Belgian wild-card Raphael Collignon in the semifinals.
Also Friday, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill, Ont., faces Sweden's Elias Ymer in the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open.
At the Japan Women's Open in Osaka, Leylah Fernandez of Laval, Que., was set to face Romania's Sorana Cirstea in the semifinals on Saturday morning (Friday night in Eastern Time).
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