Felix Auger-Aliassime surprised by Tim van Rijthoven in Libema Open semi-final

‘S-HERTOGENBOSCH, Netherlands — Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime is out of the Libema Open lawn tennis tournament after being upset in the semi-finals 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, robbed the Canadian of a chance to play for his second Tour victory with a 6-3, 1-6 victory, 7-6 (5).

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

Van Rijthoven and Auger-Aliassime held serve throughout the third set, resulting in a tiebreaker. Van Rijthoven won three straight points to take a 6-3 lead and earn match point. Auger-Aliassime won the next two points on serve to take the lead before his Dutch opponent ended the game.

Van Rijthoven only broke Auger-Aliassime once in seven occasions, but it proved enough as he was able to hold serve in the first and third sets.