Rublev, Auger-Aliassime March Toward Halle Final; Cilic Falls At Queen’s

Andrey Rublev is closing in on another ATP 500 title in Halle this weekend. The Russian who is 5-0 in ATP 500 finals, eased past Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6(4), 6-2 to reach the semifinals.

The 23-year-old is now 28-2 in ATP 500s since the the restart.

“I am happy with my performance to reach the semifinals for the first time,” said Rublev. “The first set was really tough. He was 3-0 up in the tie-break and I came back, which was the key. After the first set, I think he mentally went down and I was pumped up. I hit a couple of good returns in the first game of the second set.”

In his sixth semifinal of 2021, Rublev will now take on qualifier Nikolaz Basilashvili who beat Lloyd Harris 6-4, 7-6(5).

Sebastian Korda’s first Tour grass event came to an end at the hands of Ugo Humbert. The Frenchman edged Korda 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4 breaking him in the final game for the win.

“This is my favorite surface, but it was really tough today” Humbert said. “Sebastian played amazing, he is a really great player with a great attitude. It was very tough, but it is a nice victory… a very great battle.”

Humbert will meet the hot-handed Felix Auger-Aliassime who is now 6-1 on the grass after ousting American Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-2.

“I’ve been playing well these past two weeks, believing in myself a lot and dominating my service games,” Auger-Aliassime said. “As soon as I got the break, I feel like I loosened up and things were just going better and better.

“I don’t think Marcos played his best match, I’ve seen him play great matches before and beat Top 10 opponents,” he said. “But in the end, I think I was able to put a lot of pressure on him and dictate the points. So I can be happy with my performance.”

At a rainy Queen’s, Matteo Berrettini took care of Dan Evans 7-6(5), 6-3. The top seed will now face No. 4 seed Alex De Minaur who downed Stuttgart winner Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Cameron Norrie knocked out Jack Draper 6-3, 6-3 in the battle of the Brits. He’ll await the finish of the Denis Shapovalov-Frances Tiafoe match which was suspended after the first set with the Canadian ahead.

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