Canadians set to square off in Stuttgart

STUTTGART, GERMANY— Félix Auger-Aliassime will face Milos Raonic in an all-Canadian semifinal at the Stuttgart Open.

Auger-Aliassime, the No. 7 seed from Montreal, and Raonic, the No. 6 seed from Thornhill both won quarterfinal matchups at the ATP Tour 250 grass-court event on Friday to set up their second career meeting on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Raonic beat world No. 52 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary 6-4, 6-4, while the 18-year-old Auger-Aliassime outlasted German qualifier Dustin Brown 7-6 (3), 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2).

Raonic beat Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4 last year on a hardcourt in Indian Wells, Calif., but that was before the teenager rocketed up the rankings to a career-high No. 21 this week. Raonic is just ahead at No. 18.

“It’ll be a tough match,” Raonic said. “He’s been playing well these first six months. Hopefully I can have a chance to find the solution to the Félix problem.”

The Auger-Aliassime-Brown match lasted just over two hours 28 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime, 18, won 83 per cent of his points on first serve, as compared to 69 per cent for Brown.

He saved one match point en route to victory.

Raonic, playing his first tournament since suffering a knee injury in March, had12 aces and won 89 per cent of his points on first serve.

Raonic was the runner-up in Stuttgart last year and has had his best Grand Slam results on the grass at Wimbledon, reaching the quarter-finals the past two years and the final in 2016.

“It helps me out a lot,” Raonic said of the surface. “I’ve played really well on it the last four, five years. It’s a part of the season I really look forward to.”

In doubles play, Denis Shapovalov of Richmond Hill has advanced to the semis.

The Canadian and partner Rohan Bopanna of India will face Australians Nick Kyrgios and Matt Reid on Saturday.