ATP Tour

Auger-Aliassime prevails in third-set tie-break in Brussels thriller

Felix Auger-Aliassime survived a major test from Damir Dzumhur on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Fortis European Open in Brussels, where he prevailed in a third-set tie-break to reach the quarter-finals.

The Canadian recovered from squandering three match points on return at 5-4 in the third set, eventually advancing 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5) after two hours and 54 minutes. He now leads the Bosnian star 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

"I am feeling good and better now the match is over and I won," said Auger-Aliassime, who is 38-20 on the year according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. "It was a tough day for different reasons and you just have to fight and get through. It was three hours but a lot of fun."

Auger-Aliassime has fond memories competing in Belgium, having won the title in Antwerp in 2022 before the ATP 250 event relocated to Brussels in 2025. The 25-year-old has been close to his best in recent months, reaching the semi-finals at the US Open and the quarter-finals at ATP Masters 1000 events in Cincinnati and Shanghai.

With his latest win, Auger-Aliassime cemented his spot in 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. He is on 2,955 points, trailing eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti by 530 points. Auger-Aliassime, who is chasing his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, will play Botic van de Zandschulp or American qualifier Eliot Spizzirri in the last eight.

Musetti, the Brussels top seed, kept pace by beating qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 7-6(3), 7-5 later on Thursday. With the win, Musetti became the seventh man to reach 10 tour-level quarter-finals this season and the third Italian quarter-finalist at the Brussels ATP 250 after Andreas Seppi (2016) and Jannik Sinner (2019, 2021).

The Italian converted the only break point of the match for either player at 5-5 in the second set. He hit six aces and won 84 per cent (37/44) of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

In the opening match of the day, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard advanced to the quarter-finals after Nikoloz Basilashvili was forced to retire. The fifth-seeded Frenchman led Basilashvili 7-5 when play was halted at the ATP 250. Mpetshi Perricard will next meet Musetti.