Felix Auger-Aliassime lives to play another day.
The lone Canadian standing defeated ATP-ranked No. 52 Aljaž Bedene 6-4, 7-6(6) in the quarterfinals on Friday, booking his spot in the semis against Spain's Pablo Carreño Busta.
After taking a relatively easy first set, the 19-year-old looked eager to wrap things up early with a 3-0 lead in the second. But Bedene, from Slovenia, battled back and forced the set to a tiebreak, even leading at one point with his hopes of a semifinal birth on the line.
MORE: Felix Auger-Aliassime avenges Denis Shapovalov's loss, defeats Grigor Dimitrov in quarterfinals
In the end, it was Auger-Aliassime who outlasted his counterpart, advancing to the next round — and deservedly so.
FÉLIX!
— Tennis Canada (@TennisCanada) February 14, 2020
It's a Valentine's Day victory for @felixtennis as he overcomes a stern test from Aljaz Bedene to advance 6-4, 7-6(6) into the @abnamrowtt semi-finals - his third career ATP 500 semi-final.
📸 : Tennis TV pic.twitter.com/oB4vbC3FiR
Despite a fairly even match statistics-wise, Auger-Aliassime led in almost every category. The Canadian clipped Bedene in points won (76-72) receiving points won (24-22) and breakpoint opportunities converted (2-1) but where the youngster truly shined was on service opportunities with 73 percent of his first serves dropping compared to Bedene's 53 percent. Each player committed one double fault, but Auger-Aliassime managed to blow 10 aces past Bedene, who only recorded three himself.
Auger-Aliassime will face Carreño Busta, who defeated Jannik Sinner 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(6), in the semifinal round on Saturday. The Spaniard should prove to be a tougher task; he's currently ranked No. 30, just nine spots behind Auger-Aliassime at No. 21. All three of Carreño Busta's matches in Rotterdam have gone the distance and he has twice survived a final set tiebreak. Auger-Aliassime, meanwhile, has only been forced into a third set once in the tournament against Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round.