Felix Auger-Aliassime moved into the semifinals of the US Open on Tuesday night, advancing past Carlos Alcaraz after the Spaniard retired down 6-3, 3-1 due to injury.
It’s the first Grand Slam semifinal of Auger-Aliassime’s career, and awaiting him there will be the No. 2-ranked player in the world, Daniil Medvedev.
“It’s an amazing milestone,” he said. “It’s been a fantastic tournament for me. Of course it’s a weird ending today, but in the end, okay, I’m through, and I’ll have a chance to play Friday against one of the best players in the world right now.”
Despite the unfortunate ending to his quarterfinal match, it was a doubly historic night for the 21-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who not only became the first man born in the 2000s to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam, but who also became the first Canadian man ever to reach the semifinals of the US Open. And that’s not just in the Open Era, it’s in the tournament’s entire history, since 1881.