Felix Auger-Aliassime rides 22 aces to quarterfinal berth at European Open

Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime moved to the quarterfinals of the European Open tennis tournament with a 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) win over Damir Dzumhur of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Thursday in Brussels.

Auger-Aliassime, seeded second in Brussels, out-aced Dzumhur 22-0 and had 14 break-point chances in the match.

But Dzumhur defended 13 break chances against while converting both ones he had in a match with little room for error.

Auger-Aliassime was up double-break point in what could have been a decisive 10th game in the third set, but Dzumhur ended up fending off three match points to earn a hold and tie the set 5-5.

Dzumhur then had a 4-3 lead in the deciding tiebreak 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 a match between Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands and American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 hardcourt event.

It was the second meeting between Auger-Aliassime and Dzumhur at the ATP Tour level and first since 2020, when Auger-Aliassime defeated Dzumhur in the first round at Montpellier, France.