Felix Auger-Aliassime falls to American Taylor Fritz at ATP Finals

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime dropped a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2 decision to American Taylor Fritz on Thursday at the ATP Finals.

Fritz earned his first service break of the match midway through the deciding set and went on to complete the victory in two hours 44 minutes.

With the win, he locked up a spot in Saturday's semifinals against Serbia's Novak Djokovic. Auger-Aliassime was eliminated from the eight-man competition.

Both players entered with 1-1 records on the indoor hardcourt at the Pala Apitour after wins over Spain's Rafael Nadal and losses to Norway's Casper Ruud.

Fritz applied steady pressure in the early going. His serve was in form and Auger-Aliassime's retrieval skills were put to the test.

Both players held serve into a first-set tiebreaker. Fritz picked up a mini-break at 4-2 when Auger-Aliassime sprayed a backhand return.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 17, 2022

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  Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime returns the ball to United States' Taylor Fritz during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals, at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

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  United States' Taylor Fritz returns the ball to Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime during their singles tennis match of the ATP World Tour Finals, at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy, Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)